Here Am I

New Opportunities

2009-10-21T11:02:00.002-04:00

So the last time that I have posted was about 4 months ago and needless to say, a lot has happened since then. First let me say that as always the summer was amazing at Caswell and God is definitely raising up a generation of students that are sold out for Him and for His mission. This summer ended a little different than others for me though. As many know by now, my parents were in pretty bad head on accident in July which was a huge wake up call for me and many of my friends. I am thankful and grateful to say that both are healthy and back to their lives and that I know it was due to all the prayers that were being sent up by the community of believers around me. How awesome is it to know that when something happens there are literally thousands of people, around the states and the world going before God on your behalf. That fact alone is the only reason that I was able to find peace and rest throughout the whole experience, because I knew and trusted that God was in control one way or the other as hard as it could have been.

On to the new opportunities...I am officially a high school teacher and in the last 2 months of teaching, God has shown me so much. He has affirmed that working with students and being in this school is definitely where I needed to be. I have had the opportunity to talk to the majority of my students about my beliefs and listen to theirs as well. Being in a small school, every student knows who I am and what I stand for and many of the students that I have not even spoken to have asked me about what something (i.e. purity ring, or tattoos) means and I have been able to discuss with them the Gospel. It is my prayer and hope that one day soon I will be able to see God do a mighty work in this school and in the lives of these students.

Furthermore, God has been using me in another way to impact the lives of students with His Gospel. During this summer, I decided that speaking to students was a talent that God was going use within my life. That being said, I have had several speaking opportunities this fall already and I can't wait to see what God provides for me in the future. I have already met hundreds of students during these gigs and God has astounded me over and over again. One of the most testing and greatest opportunities I will have is on November 14 of this year I will be speaking at a Stokes County Youth Revival which last year had about 800 students (nervous, yes I am!). God is providing these opportunities for me and I know that He is going to show up and do a great work each time. Shameless plug (after all it is my own blog) check out my website. What opportunities has God provided you recently?

When I rise...

2009-06-24T20:08:00.002-04:00

Have you ever wondered, what's the point? Have you ever thought, why am I here or why am I doing this right now? Have you ever shared the Gospel and just thought your words were falling on deaf ears? Let's be honest, many times this is case because we who are preaching aren't reminding ourselves of the Love that's freely given through God's grace. We're preaching redemption and salvation to others and forgetting about our own. The Bible tells us that each day God's mercies are made new and each day we are given grace, should we choose to accept it. Paul tells us that being reminded of the Gospel is for our own benefit. This isn't just an every Sunday/Wednesday reminder, this is an everyday reminder that Christ has redeemed me and taken my place, my beating, my death in order to bring me back to the Father. Each day we should wake up and first preach the Gospel to ourselves and remind ourselves of God's glory, then and only then can we preach it to other people. If Christians would preach the Gospel to themselves and daily be reminded of God's grace and forgiveness, then maybe, just maybe non-believers would be less confused as to what true Christianity and being a follower/disciple of Christ actually looks like. I charge each one of us to choose God's daily provisions and to preach the Gospel to ourselves each new day before we even think about preaching it to other people. As the song says, "when I rise, give me Jesus." Will you make that commitment?

Love

2009-05-08T16:37:00.002-04:00

Today there are many ways in which we use the word 'love.' Some use it to describe their feelings, others use it to describe food. The love of another person and the love for food...can they or are they the same love? Many at this point and even myself once would have argued that of course those are not the same use of the word love and that the love described is being misused. Again, some would argue that we have ruined the meaning of such words as love because we use it so frequently and loosely. However, I now realize and argue that the love of another person, the love of food, the love of anything are all the same love. We have not ruined the meaning, we have merely misplaced the value. Originally we were all created to love God. That perfect love was displayed in the Garden of Eden without hesitation between Adam and God. Also, for a while it was displayed between Adam and Eve and between Eve and God. This love is the love that many think of when they say they love another person. Most will not think of this love when discussing food. But, love is love no matter what. Rather than the destruction of the word 'love' we have misplaced it. Instead of saying that we love God and love people, we are blinded by our desires and decide to love food. When somebody says that they love this or that they mean it. Unfortunately, that's just it; we have replaced God with idols. Idols come in many different forms and for some it, well, it is food. Hopefully, this will make us think about how we used the word 'love' and remember that God's greatest commandments are: Love God & Love Each Other. Don't misplace the love that was created to be between you and God. Where is your love?

Evil

2009-05-04T16:38:00.003-04:00

Throughout my time in college I have heard many reasons and arguments for why people do not and refuse to believe in God. Possibly one of the most common arguments is "How can God exist with all this evil in the world?" OK, that sounds like a valid question. However, I think a better question is, how come God hasn't let you feel the wrath from sin? Yes, there are evil things/people in this world, but aren't we all evil in some way? Haven't we all said or done something that others and even ourselves would deem to be evil? How can we complain about evil in this world, when we ourselves have contributed to that evil? The argument is that if a good God exists then then he should stop all this evil in the world, after all isn't he all-powerful? Again, I bring up another question, what is evil? Evil is anything that is against God, anything morally bad or wrong. It's murder, rape, stealing, lying, cheating, gossiping, lust, anger, and much more! However, if we want God to stop evil, do we want Him to stop it all or just a little bit of it? If He stops us from doing evil things, what about lying, or what about evil thoughts? Where do you stop, the murder level, the lying level, or the thinking level? If we really want God to stop evil we have to be consistent, we cannot just pick and choose like so many want to do when it comes to Christ and the Gospel. This means that you and I would be eliminated! If we think evil stuff then we should be eliminated! But thanks be to God that Jesus stepped in to save us from our sin! Christ died for all evilness! Have you accepted this love that has wiped away your evilness?

Truth

2009-04-28T16:35:00.003-04:00

What is truth? As I came into the college atmosphere this seemed to be the question that was on everybody's list to answer. Many people even thought that they had figured out what truth really is. Over the past few years I have heard many takes on what truth is and how it applies to everyone's life. Many people believe that truth is just relative, it all depends on what you believe. Moreover, I have heard many say that there is no way to know for sure who God is or what's really true. However, they believe in the statement that they are making, "that there's no way to know what's really true." They're saying that their statement is true. They make a circular argument that comes back on itself and removes any credibility. Furthermore, think about this, if what's true for you is true for you and what's true for is true for me, what if my truth says yours is a lie? What then, is it still true? Truth is what it is (truth) whether you believe it or not. Your belief does not determine what truth is or is not! Truth simply is truth. So how do we know what truth is? To know this we must know what truth is not, and it is not relative. Again, if truth is relative then that statement itself can't be true. There is truth, and it comes from the one that created purpose and meaning. In order to know what is true, we must study and desire to know the one that created us and as we do that, truth will be made known to us. However, this does not mean that all things will be revealed. As scriptures tell us, there are mysteries and knowledge that belong to God and humans will never know them. Truth is what it is, no matter what you believe about it. Do you know the truth?

Passion without purpose...

2009-04-08T16:29:00.002-04:00

...is pointless. Are you passionate about something? Have you done anything about it? Think about the things that you are most passionate about, now think about what you have done to see that passion come to life. Many Christians say that they have a passion to see other people find Christ and come to know Him and love and worship Him. I would say that that is a great passion to have and that it is one that I too share. However, what have we done about it? Honestly, most of have done nothing with that passion. We have sat back and watched and wondered why the world has not changed. We say we have all that passion and yet (myself included) have done nothing with it. I pray that the deep rooted passion that we have will begin to take form and have purpose in our lives. Simply put; passion without purpose is pointless. Does your passion have purpose?

Fire

2009-04-04T16:56:00.002-04:00

So we've all heard the story about Moses and the burning bush, right? What's the deal with God appearing to Moses through this burning bush? Let's take a look into this story from Exodus 3. Moses is hanging out in the wilderness tending to the flock of his father-in law. You can imagine that Moses isn't exactly having the best time of his life hanging out in the wilderness with sheep that aren't even his. If we continue to read, it says that there was a bush that was burning. What got the attention of Moses was that the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. Because the fire caught the eye of Moses, he was able to have an encounter with God. God sent the fire upon that bush to get Mose's attention! When we go through struggles and trials in our lives, God is sending the fire to open our eyes and get our attention. At this point one could say that God wouldn't send fire to us because that is cruel; however, let us remember that God is always with us in the fire. Maybe you continually pray that the situation you are in would change and God answers with fire. He answers with fire so that he can send the rain! When God sends the fire it burns away everything that is not of Him and when he brings the rain he washes us clean and redeems us bringing us to his feet. Furthermore, when God sends fire it is to show those around you that He is able to see you through the fire (James 1:3-4). He sends it to prove his presence in your life! Sometimes we pray that God would deliver us, maybe we should pray that he would give us what we need to get through it. What we need is grace. Grace and only grace will get us through every situation in our lives. Know that God is with you in the fire and that he will send the rain. Where's the fire in your life?

Servant...Set Free

2009-03-18T11:29:00.000-04:00

For those that know me or have seen me in the past year, know that I have a few tattoos. For those that did not know this, I have a tattoo in Greek on both forearms and a variation of a cross on my right shoulder. Teaching in a public high school I am constantly asked what they mean and why I have them. The ones that people most often ask about the ones on my forearms, as these are the most visible. Two words in Greek, δούλος and έλευθερόω. The first means “servant/bond-servant/slave” and the second means “set free/set from the dominion of sin.” Most that ask about the meaning of these even further, usually question I would tattoo slave/servant on my arm and what is the significance of being set free. I have the pleasure of working in a public high school and when students ask, I’m allowed to answer which is awesome because through these tattoos I am able to share the Gospel of Christ and what He has done in my life with these students. I am a servant of Christ, a bond-servant, bought with the price of Jesus’ blood on a cross. Since he died and paid for me, I owe him everything! Not only did he pay the price and the debt that I owed to God because of my sin, he also set me free. He set me free from the bondage of my sin. I no longer have the burden of sinful punishment on my shoulders; he set me free from that. Not only did he set me free from this, he also set me free unto serving him. He paid the price/my debt and set me free from sin so that I would be free to serve and worship the one and only Yaweh (LORD). That is why I am his servant. He has forgiven me, when bled and died and tore the veil in the temple, he set me free. Have you been set free to serve the one true God?

Anticipate

2009-01-28T16:49:00.004-05:00

When most people think about the Old Testament, they merely think about Noah and the flood, David and Goliath and other great stories of God's work through humans. However, these stories for storytelling aren't the reason that we have the Old Testament (OT) in our Bibles today. Have you ever thought about the people in the OT and the things that occurred during their lives? These people lived, heard, and read about the things that happened to Adam and Eve and the rest of mankind prior to the flood and after the Exodus and knew that someday God was going to redeem them and bring them back to Him through a Savior, Messiah, a Son. Throughout the OT we witness people struggling with sin and having to make an offering to God for their forgiveness because in their time, Christ had not yet come. The people in the OT waited for many years and they never got to witness the birth, life, death, or resurrection of their Savior. Even in the years between the OT and New Testament (NT) writings (400 years!!!) people were still waiting. Now waiting wasn't merely just sitting around twiddling their thumbs, NO!, they were continually worshiping God for the things that He was doing in their lives and their waiting was an anticipation to what the Savior would bring to this world. Some people missed out because they got tired of waiting on God to do what He promised to do. Others were patient enough to repent, worship, and anticipate the day that would come when their sins would be washed away. In the NT these people actually got to spend time with Jesus and witness all the great things that He is until the day He ascended into heaven. Those after the NT, including us, are now waiting for His return. Like the people in the OT, we live in a sinful and perverse world and are waiting for our Savior to come to this world (again) and redeem it for good. Also, like some in the OT, some people have grown weary and tired of waiting on God, but I urge you to trust in His promises and anticipate the day of His return. Every promise, and prophecy for that matter, that was made in the OT was revealed and proven true in the NT and this is not a mere coincidence! God remains true to His word and Jesus will return. Don't miss out on the glory that He will bring, experience it now and allow Him to perfect you until the day He calls you home or until the day He returns to this earth to make it new. Anticipate that day, yet do not be anxious. His kingdom is amongst us, don't miss it. Anticipate or miss out, it's your choice.

Got Hope?

2008-12-25T22:19:00.002-05:00

Let me preface this by saying that the following is in no way a political statement or judgement/bashing...On my way to work a couple weeks ago I drove up on this car that had an interesting magnet on the back of it. This magnet caught my eye because all it said from where I could see it was "Got Hope?" As I got closer to the car I realized that uderneath this slogan were the names "Obama/Biden." I am troubled by the fact that people are placing their hope merely in the government. This has nothing to do with the people that are going to be in office, but the fact that people are looking to the government for their hope is troubling. While this has been somewhat of the slogan for this presidential race, even now people are beginning to find out that not everything is as it seems and that all their hope for the future is beginning to fade already. As we celebrate Christmas this year with hope for the future I would challenge all of us to remember the reason that we celebrate Christmas to begin with. We celebrate this time because of the ultimate gift that God gave us, that being his son Jesus! Not only did Jesus live and die by crucifixion (historically proven), but he rose again to bring all of us hope for our lives and for our future. The hope of people cannot be merely placed in the government. People will let us down and promises will be broken unless they are the ones that were made by the only sinless creator. Christ provides us with everlasting hope and I pray that each person would find hope in him and the promise of salvation that he and he only can provide. Even through these economic struggles, wars, and government changes may our hope be found in him and not in government officials. Got hope?

Have you ever...

2008-12-07T23:47:00.003-05:00

Have you ever felt like you were merely stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time? Have you ever wished that you were somewhere else or how about somebody else? Surely at some point in life these thoughts have all crossed our minds. For some this could have been due to many things but for many this is usually due to rejection or failure. It is interesting to note how these things can affect us in such a great way. Why is it that simple rejection or failure drives us to the point of questioning why we are and who we are? Simply put this is because of what we call our human righteousness. We have this thought of who we are and when something comes along and questions that then we begin to wonder whether or not we are who we thought we were. Most of us go through life thinking that we can attain righteousness by being a good person or by being a certain way. The Gospel teaches us that there is nothing that we can do in order to become righteous before God except surrender and bow at the foot of the cross of Christ. We cannot attain this perfect self by our own deeds, rather it comes from God alone. When something comes along and questions these thoughts of who we thought we were we immediately turn and question God. But if we have the understanding that this life is Christ's then we remove all grounds for pride and boasting. This in turn removes anything that has to do with building ourselves up and becoming righteous. Once we come to grips with the fact that this life is not ours and that we have traded spots with Christ then we can begin to understand what David meant in Psalm 13. David understood that there was nothing he could do to become righteous before God and he knew that even though his adversaries questioned him and rejoiced when he was shaken, he would wait on the Lord. Even though people may question who we are, even though they may tempt our character, even though we may fail, even though we may be rejected; we must wait on the Lord. Don't become discouraged and demoralized and begin to question God and why you are who you are and alive in this time. Rather I challenge you to wait on the Lord for He is the one who has made the perfect plan for your life and only He can guide you through it no matter what. Be patient, His promises never fail. Are you willing to wait?

You are...

2008-11-10T18:42:00.002-05:00

Another prayer and reflection that has been in my mind over the past few days reminding me of what my life is all about...

we bow down before You
because of who You are

and You are my Joy
You are my Love
You are my Life
You are my Peace

we bow down before You
because of who You are

and You are my Guide
You are the Way
You are the Truth
You are the ONE

we bow down before You
because of what You’ve done

Jesus you lived
Savior you died
oh, Lord you have risen
and now You live

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Predestination v. Free Will

2008-10-23T11:26:00.005-04:00

I was asked to write an article dealing with the issue of predestination and free will. The following are my thoughts about this issue:

Predestination v. Free Will. The latter has been one of the biggest arguments and one of the reasons that churches will split. This article is written to merely present an opinion and challenge you, the reader, to take a deeper look at scripture and wrestle with it. There is evidence for both predestination and free will in scripture, therefore, neither one can simply be dismissed. There are many evidences of both of these in scripture and we must therefore wrestle with these scriptures and accept that both of these issues have scriptural credibility.
Comparing these issues is very similar to the comparison of the human and divine nature of Jesus. Both of these natures are found to be in Christ and there are evidences of both of these in scripture. The term that is used to describe the acceptance of the human and divine nature of Christ is “Hypostatic union,” which means that the two natures are united in one person. Similarly, both predestination and free will exist and have scriptural evidence.
These issues cause us so many problems mainly because we are incapable of wrapping our minds around the fact that both can exist in unison. In the book of Deuteronomy there is a discussion about the knowledge of God, and in the New Testament there is discussion about the mysteries of God that man will never know. The issue of predestination and free will is one of those things that is never going to make sense in our minds. Below is a diagram that can help to explain is. Basically, both predestination and free will go towards this line of knowledge and above that line is the knowledge of God that we will never know. Furthermore, above this line it is unknown to us what happens to these two views, do they intersect/overlap, or do the simply continue on their own? This again is something we will not know.
Both of these views fall under the title of systematic theology and should be treated as and discussed with care and with humility. The one thing about systematic theology is that it relies on a system and that scripture ‘fits’ into that and any scripture against it is explained away. I challenge anyone reading this to take the standpoint of what one might call a “Biblicist.” By this I simply mean that you would search the Bible and believe what the scriptures say about each point/issue.
Remember that in the discussion of any issue it is never good for either party to become frustrated or angry. Discussion is good but arguments can be harmful. Remain humble in everything that you do and in all that you do, do it with love.

"Just kidding..."

2008-10-13T17:10:00.002-04:00

"Just kidding." We've all said it before. I'll even bet that many of us have said that phrase today even in the past hour or two. I know what you're asking, "what's so bad about saying that?" It seems so innocent doesn't it? We joke and just have a good time because it is fun and brings laughter and what seems like joy to others. But that's just it. It simply seems like joy. Think about the times that you have used that phrase or others like it. For me this has often been at times when others have been around and I or somebody else made a comment about another person or about a situation. It all seems like it's just fun, but have you ever thought about how that makes the other person feel? Whether or not you agree with me, you cannot ignore what the Bible says about situations like this and about our speech. "Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows and death. So is the man who deceives his neighbor, and says, 'Was I not joking?'" Proverbs 26:18-19 Scripture says that the one who uses this phrase is like a madman throwing arrows and death around at people. The word that people like to throw out here is 'deceives.' That word means so much more than what we commonly think. It literally means to mislead, so yes even joking is to mislead or lie to someone. At this point it is common to think/say that it's just a joke, nothing big. The question you have to answer for yourself here is: 'what constitutes a sin in need of repentance?' Simply, to you, is a lie a sin at the same level of, say, murder? According to the scriptures this answer is resoundingly, YES, a sin is a sin and all sins are need of repentance and redemption. In our culture and in the way that we conduct our lives it is difficult to not joke or to cut down somebody but we must strive to make this cease. Could you imagine what could happen if we constantly lived our lives with love and encouragement that is portrayed in the Gospel? It would be amazing. "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word that is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give GRACE to those who hear." Ephesians 4:29 "But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him." Colossians 3: 8-10 Encourage one another in conduct and in speech and sacrifice yourself so that the name of Christ may become famous. Love in the way that you know that you have been loved, in a way that gave up life to take on the impurities of all to provide salvation for all. Great things can and will happen if we conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to God. Will you love?

Psalm from the heart

2008-09-29T22:23:00.004-04:00

I was fortunate to have some time to myself today and spend some time with God. During this time I simply just reflected on life and blessings and just began to pour my heart out to God. I ended up writing down the main prayer of this time and it came to be somewhat of a poem/song/psalm if you will. So here it is...

i laid down at your throne
asking You to be my own
i have fallen, yet again
O, please Lord be my gain

take it all from me
so that i can see
take it all from me
so that i can see

i am now on my knees
asking You, "forgive me"
restore me, yet again
O, please Lord be my gain

take it all from me
so that i can see
take it all from me
so that i can see

i want to be with You
every moment with you
life is Christ, death is gain
O, please Lord be my gain

take it all from me
so that i can see
take it all from
so that i can see
here i am, here i am
here i am, before you

That was simply what my heart was crying out as I thought about where I am now and where I was before. What is your heart saying?

Sin's Round

2008-09-22T18:26:00.002-04:00

Have you ever wondered when sin starts? Maybe you've phrased that question like this: How far is too far? For a long time I was under the impression that sin began with the actual physical process of sinning, in whatever fashion that was whether be gossip, etc. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Matthew 5 discusses this issue of sin and when it truly begins. In verses 21-22 Jesus tells us, "You have heard that the ancients were told, 'You shall not commit murder' and 'whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell." Furthermore in verses 27-28 Jesus explains again, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." This passage out of Matthew explains it very clearly, sin begins with your thoughts. For me that is troubling. I control what I am thinking and sometimes it is anger, hatred, gossip, lust, this list goes on and to think, those are all sins. My first objection, which I believe comes from Satan, is "wait, I only thought those things, I didn't actually say or do anything!" According to the Christ that died for my sins, the sins he suffered for began in my mind and unfortunately some I carried out through actions. It is important that we realize that sin begins with the mind and when we find ourselves thinking about sinful things that it is time to then confess and repent. The following poem was written by George Herbert and the title is Sin's Round and it portrays perfectly the beginning of and the execution of sin in our lives:

SORRY I am, my God, sorry I am,
That my offences course it in a ring.
My thoughts are working like a busy flame,
Until their cockatrice they hatch and bring:
And when they once have perfected their draughts,
My words take fire from my inflamed thoughts.
My words take fire from my inflamed thoughts,
Which spit it forth like the Sicilian hill.
They vent their wares, and pass them with their faults,
And by their breathing ventilate the ill.
But words suffice not, where are lewd intentions:
My hands do join to finish the inventions.
My hands do join to finish the inventions:
And so my sins ascend three stories high,
As Babel grew, before there were dissentions.
Let ill deeds loiter not: for they supply
New thoughts of sinning:
wherefore, to my shame,
Sorry I am, my God, sorry I am.: George Herbert

That poem portrays it perfectly, sin begins in the mind and before you know it your sin has grown threefold. My Lord sorry I am, that my sins function in this process. Once you think it, it has already been put into action and it is already sinful. Between these two passages in Matthew Jesus explains to us the importance of repentance and forgiveness. Matthew 23-24 tells us that if we are presenting an offering, wanting to grow in our relationship with God, taking communion, etc. we must "first be reconciled." If there is a personal grievance or bitterness then you have to take care of that before you come into the presence of God. It is important that we love in all facets of our lives including our thoughts, take care of that before it is too late and you are standing before God on judgment day. We are held accountable for our attitudes, our thoughts, and our actions. Are you aware of your thoughts?

"Love 'em..."

2008-09-18T22:07:00.003-04:00

For the past year I have been very convicted about something. I have tried to seriously think about how I treat and even think about other people. Unfortunately, that is what I have been convicted about, not that I haven't treated people with love, but what do I really think about them? Have you ever heard or even said, "I love them, I don't like them/can't stand them, but I love them?" I found myself saying that a couple of times over this past year and it never really meant anything to me until I sat down and thought about what exactly I was saying (also by being in prayer and listening to God's word being preached I was able to recognize this). What I have come to realize is that to say that is to completely refute yourself. "Love 'em, don't like 'em, but I love 'em." Really? What does it mean to love? To love somebody is the greatest commandment according to Jesus, so it is nothing to take lightly. Again, 1 Corinthians says that the greatest thing is to love. So what does it mean to not like somebody, can you really love them if you don't like them? I think the answer to that question is no. Love is something so powerful that it should overcome any 'imperfections' that someone might have or even annoyances. Yes, people in my life annoy me and can get on my nerves and do things that I do not like, BUT love is something that overcomes those petty emotions and overrides my initial thoughts. 1 Corinthians 13 defines what Love is and what all Love overcomes; therefore, to say that you don't like somebody but you love them is incorrect. Everybody will do something that annoys you and that you don't like, but Love can and will overcome those feelings so embrace it, pray for patience, and learn to love as Christ Loved us! When we sin we directly disobey and even offend God, yet he looks upon the sacrifice of His SON and Loves us enough to forgive and accept us. When you experience the forgiveness, grace, mercy, and LOVE that was shown to us only then will you truly understand what it means to love. I can only love because HE first loved me. Patience will come, be in steadfast prayer, learn what love really is and surrender to it. Will you choose to Love as Christ loves?

Humility

2008-09-12T15:24:00.002-04:00

What does it mean to be humble? Is it enough to just say that I am not proud or arrogant? Personally I think that it is not enough. Being humble means so much more than to simply state or think that you are not proud or arrogant, isn't that arrogance in and of itself? Humility is not simply just a statement, rather it is a state of being. It is knowing the truth but at the same time know that that Truth is greater than even you and your knowledge. We are working through a series in studentLIFE that is called "Jesus is Greater Than..." Through this series we are showing and teaching the students about other worldly religions and cults and showing them why Jesus is better/greater than all of these. I know what you're thinking, that is far from humility. But, we are teaching them that Jesus is greater than ourselves/them and that while yes Jesus is greater than all things, we are to deliver this message with love. 1 Corinthians says that faith and hope and love are very important, but that the greatest of these is LOVE. Through all of these teachings we are portraying that humility comes through love, and though Jesus is greater than all of these worldly religions the best thing that we can do is to LOVE each other and LOVE the world and know that Jesus is greater than we are! That is what humility is. Having a reason for the hope that we have and sharing that through love and gentleness (1 Peter 3:15) is what we are called to do. Humility can be such a tough thing especially when pride is something that we are taught to have in everything that we do. So how do even begin to have humility? I'm glad you asked. Humility is not only gained through love, but it is gained through prayer! Prayer should be the basis of everything that we do and prayer should lead us to humility. The reason this is so is because to be in prayer is to fall down on your face in complete reverence of the Almighty God and to SURRENDER to Him. To be in prayer is to say, Lord I can't do it, I need you. Prayer leads you to humility. I once heard it described in this way: the gate into heaven is a short gate and those who stand tall cannot enter, only those who are face down can enter the gate. To be in prayer is to surrender all that you are and to admit that you cannot do anything without Christ, and that my friends is humility. Pray boldly, pray consistently, pray specifically. Are you ready to pray?

Line in the sand

2008-09-04T09:39:00.003-04:00

Since I have been working with youth there is one thing that I have begun to notice not only about youth ministry but about churches and other ministries as a whole and that is we have very low expectations of them. Simply put, we are not challenging people to rise above and make a difference. This is one thing that we noticed this past summer after talking to some of the youth ministers that came to camp. Many of them told us that they merely skimmed over scripture and didn't want to go too deep because they were afraid that the students wouldn't get it. Wow! The reason they aren't maturing already and deeply knowing the scriptures is because we have no confidence in them that they can do it. This is evident in college ministries and some churches as well. The reason Christians of all ages aren't growing and maturing in Christ is because those teaching them have set the bar so low and have left it there since the beginning not allowing them to grow further. What this causes is apathy and it causes many Christians to fall asleep.

Martin Luther described a dream he had about hell in this way: he envisioned Satan sitting on his throne and demons were coming to him and reporting back to him. The first one came to him and said, "some Christians were on this caravan through the desert and I caused some tigers to attack them and kill them." Satan said, "that does nothing for me because their souls are with Jesus." Another demon came up and said, "Satan there were some missionaries on a boat and I caused this great wind and these waves hit the ship and killed all the Christians." Satan said, "Again you don't get it, I'm after their souls!" This wise demon came to Satan and said, "For 10 years I've been trying to lull this guy to sleep, and finally he went to sleep." And with that hell began cheer and applaud because ONE person had fallen asleep.

Don't fall asleep! God is drawing a line in the sand and saying "WAKE UP!!!" It's time for us to wake up to the power and grace of God or else we are going to miss out on it all and miss out on the amazing things that God is doing in our churches and in our cities. If you fall asleep then there is no use for you. Continue to grow and do this, not by joining another Bible study, but do it by serving. Serve in your local church, become committed to it, become a member of their family, and dedicate yourself in every way. Furthermore, serve your community show them the love of Christ that they have been missing because the church has been sleeping. "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." ~Ephesians 5:14~ Wake up, don't be left behind, raise the bar and offer all that you are. Are you falling asleep?

Something Unanticipated

2008-08-10T19:46:00.000-04:00

The summer has come to an end and the only thing that I can say it that God has truly blessed my life simply by allowing me to witness His glory and amazing grace every week of this summer. There were hundreds of first time decisions to follow Christ made by youth and even some adults this summer and to be able to watch people finally surrender and understand what it means to truly believe has been absolutely amazing! I have been able to learn from many great people including some amazing men after God's own heart, simply put this has been another amazing summer.

Now that the summer is over, that means that it is time for us to return home and to school. With that in mind, all that has occurred over the summer is not meant to be taken with you wherever you go. By this I simply mean that, for me, Caswell will only happen at Caswell. Things that I have experienced at Caswell are meant for that place only. But what will happen is that the experiences I had have taught me and have equipped me so that I can tell others of God's glory. I cannot expect that things at school will be just like camp, because they simply won't be. The reason this is entitled "Something Unanticipated" is because of a couple of reasons. First, this slogan has been taken on by our BCM and is on our t-shirts for this year. The other reason is because we as Christians need to become something that our world has not anticipated. What I mean by this is that we have become content within our clicks and our Christian groups and we do the same things every year and our world knows exactly how to react to our routine-like events. My proposition is that Christians will become so passionate for Christ that they begin to truly desire to see lives changed. Once this happens they will begin to get away from their comfortable groups and will go out into the mission field that God has given them and will do anything to see Christ impact others. It is time that we pursue Christ will all that we have and truly come to know what it means to believe (believing means that you will do anything and will give up everything), engage our campus and its many cultures by sacrificing all that we have so that Christ can become famous through our lives, and impact nations by teaching and discipling/mentoring others so that they can go out and show the love of Christ to the world. Simply put, it is time that our ministries stop doing what we are doing (it's not working) and become something that our campus doesn't anticipate! How do we do this? Sacrifice our comfort, give up our lives, and stop at nothing to make the name of Christ famous. It is time for a revolution, it is time for a change, it is time for a revival. Stop allowing what we do to be anticipated. It is time for something new, something unanticipated. Are you ready? Even better, Are you willing?

Comfort

2008-07-08T21:58:00.002-04:00

After some observations over the past couple of weeks and even the past couple of years, I have come to the conclusion that Christians are just simply too comfortable. Yea I know, we hear that all the time, "it's time to get out of your comfort zone...etc..." but seriously it is that time. We see so many people in need of something and we know exactly what they need, yet all we have for them is pity. Instead of offering them the love of Christ, we sit there and say that we are sad and sorry for their situation. If you had some life threatening disease that was curable would you want somebody to give you the cure or simply feel sorry for your situation? People DO NOT NEED OUR PITY!!! If we claim to know Christ then we need to stop talking about how sorry we are for their situation and get off of our butts and get out of our comfort zones and make a difference. It's the same thing as if you have a problem with somebody. It is time for you to stop talking about the person or their situation and go to them directly! 1 Peter 3:15 says that we are to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have with gentleness and reverence. It is time for us to be out there in the world telling others about the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! As Romans 8:38-39 says, nothing absolutely NOTHING will separate from the love of God, and yet we sit back and watch the people around us and all we have is pity. Revivals will happen when Christians stop having pity and share the love of Christ with others! Are you still sitting back with pity?

Excuse/Justification

2008-06-04T16:49:00.002-04:00

Something I have been thinking about lately is why people, especially myself, are always making excuses and trying to justify themselves and others. Unfortunately, so often instead of doing my quiet times and spending time in the Word or in prayer I make excuses and then find other things to do and try to justify the other things that I am doing. The other day I went to a couple of our youth's baseball game and while I was there myself and one of the mom's got to talking to another couple of families about the Summit church and all I continued to hear were excuses to why they could not go to church and how they really wanted to go to church there but that they just couldn't do but it was ok because they had baseball tournaments and they would sometimes listen to the sermons online. Trust me, I am far from perfect but when we begin to make excuses and begin to justify our actions or the actions of others then that right there is a key sign that we are in the wrong already. Think about it, when you begin to justify why you are doing something you are usually already doing something wrong! Honestly take a moment and think about a time where you were justifying the things you were doing and the actions of others. I can almost guarantee that each time you were already sinning before you tried to justify it. We have to stop making excuses and stop trying to justify ourselves and realize that we are sinners and allow for Christ to be our justification to the Father, for he substituted His life and died the death I deserve so that I can be in relationship with God. Confess your sins, trust in Christ, and spread His name throughout the ends of the earth. Are you still making excuses?

How?

2008-05-29T15:46:00.002-04:00

Let me just preface this whole thing by saying that I love the Summit church and am glad to call that my church family. For the past couple of years I have been attending this church and to be honest it has changed my life. There are many college students that attend our church and when people ask where you go to church and you tell them "The Summit," some get this weird look on their face and remark, "Oh, 'The Summit.'" For some reason people do not like the Summit church at first glance because it is what some would call a 'megachurch.' The fact that we have two campuses, many partner and planted churches, and a large congregation people are turned away automatically. But, I challenge everyone to think about how churches like the Summit have gotten to be the way they are. These churches are not putting on a show and performing so that there is a large audience. There is one reason alone that the churches have gotten to be this way. That reason is that they preach the gospel and bless the city. Some people think that they've gotten so big because it's just entertainment, on the contrary, it's because of Jesus. Every day, every week, everywhere they go Jesus is presented and that is how these churches have become successful! The reason we have thousands of members and are able to send missionaries around the world (including the youth which is awesome) is because of Jesus alone! You can ask anybody at these churches and the one thing that will be common among the answers as to how, is Jesus. The gospel is preached, a burden for those around in the city is placed on the members, and salvation by grace alone is offered. This and this alone accounts for the success of the church. With that in mind, how are to be successful in our individual lives?

Live it

2008-05-21T22:56:00.002-04:00

It has been a month and praise God that exams are over! Since then I have been taking it easy and went on vacation to Florida (to Disney World) which was amazing as it always is! It scares me to think that I am now a senior in college and will soon graduate. What exactly does that mean though? It means my time in Chapel Hill as a student that can impact the lives of other students is coming to an end very quickly. Now that the end is coming, so often one will look back to the time before and for me the question is have I truly lived my life or have I simply been complacent and apathetic? I fear that it may be the latter but I hope that throughout my years I have allowed God to work in my life and impact the lives of those around me. This can only happen if I give up everything I have to God and allow him to use me in every single way. Yes, this also means sacrifice, which can come in many ways but when it comes down to it you only have one life to live and you only have that one life to give; therefore, you better starting living in Christ and giving your life as an act of spiritual worship. Going over these things makes me think about my dreams. More often than not our dreams are about what we want our life to be. For me, my dream is that I can be a godly man that has sacrificed his life so that Christ may be glorified. Is that possible? You better believe it is! Other dreams that I have for my life is that I will have a godly family as a result of following the will of God, and to witness the majestic works of Christ all around me. These dreams will become a reality. The reason I can boldly make that statement is because I know of the plans that God has for me and as I continue to seek Him with all my heart He will keep his promises. Furthermore, as I continue to sacrifice my life for Christ those around me will benefit from His love and when that happens their lives will be impacted by Him, not by me. My dream is that I will not be remembered, but that when people think about me they immediately think about Christ. Our dreams become a reality only when we remove our selfishness and seek after and live out the will of God. Are you ready to let your dreams come true?

It's not enough

2008-04-27T16:28:00.003-04:00

Knowing that God has a plan for you, simply is not enough. God loves you and He has a plan for you and He has not forgotten about you and He maybe working that plan out in your life, but simply knowing that God has a plan is not enough. God's plan for you is that you will seek Him with all of your heart, that even if you don't find all of the answers to your questions or solutions to your situations, that you would find Him. He simply wants you to stop playing games, quit playing the church game (stop dating the church) and commit yourself and become a person that will say, "from now on I am going to seek God with all of my heart. I am going to prioritize prayer and scripture and devotion to God through the good, the bad, and the ugly and I will seek Him." Knowledge of something is great, but until you decide to do something about it, it will remain as knowledge and nothing will change. We have to quit being Jeremiah 29:11 people saying that we know God has a plan for us and we have to become Jeremiah 29:13 people saying that while we know God has a plan for us, we want to be on board with that plan, and we want to seek Him with all of our heart. Until you submit to the Lord and say yes to His plan, simply knowing that He has a plan is not enough. "You will seek me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Are you searching?

Questions

2008-04-23T13:06:00.005-04:00

Do you ever find yourself just continually asking questions and never knowing the answers? Maybe you continue to ask why, or how long, or what will happen. The simple answer (without sounding too spiritual) is Jesus. I know what you're thinking, "yea I hear that all the time, Jesus is the answer to my questions, if I just trust in Him then He will lead me." I know it's hard to completely turn your life over and trust and have faith in somebody you have never physically met and expect them to take care of you and answer your questions. It is normal to ask questions, it is normal to not know what exactly is going to happen or why something has just happened, but you must find the comfort of forgiveness in Jesus and know that if you are living according to His will then He will take care of you in every aspect of your life. As I was thinking about this today, a song came on my ipod that took the words out of my mouth and explains this better than I can. That song is "Questions" by Jon McLaughlin and the lyrics are:

Katy stands at the top of the stairs
As she’s leaving her father stares
What has she come to? Another boy she runs to tonight
Powerless he just shakes his head
Disappointed and off to bed
But he won’t be sleeping cause the hours she’s keeping are not right

She’s asking a question, how will I be
After this next one eventually leaves me
How can a man be all that they say when all that I know
Is men run away?
I think I lose just a little bit of me in every man that I see

Danny’s been out now for 7 days
Funny how he thought the price had been paid on a past he hates to talk about
Its everything wrong about him
He goes back home to a battle field and starts to drink as some kind of a shield
For the anger instilled in him and their looks are killing him now

He’s asking a question
How will I be when It comes down to the end and memories still haunt me
How can He have forgiveness that flows when no one forgives me
Yet its Jesus they know
I think I lose just a little bit of me in this family that won’t see

A crowd of confusion gathers round watching the light as he slowly goes out
After all they've talked about everything’s coming out now
Their anger turns to dead and gone
Hearts start to feel what feels so wrong and as the time starts passing by and hours turn to days in their heads they can still hear Him say

I came for your questions of what you don’t know
But you cant see the answers unless I go
So give me your hatred and give your diseased
Give me your tired and Ill take them with me
Cause I’m hanging here losing every part of me
Just to open your eyes to what you would never see
And to answer your questions there’s no place that I’d rather be

That song spoke volumes to me as I continued to listen to it and it portrays how Jesus answers our questions. Simply Jesus came for our questions and we must turn over everything to Him in order to truly find peace and comfort and rest! Do you trust that He can overcome your doubts and questions?

I dare you to move

2008-04-14T18:01:00.005-04:00

In the past I have written a couple things discussing the intentions and motives behind what we do, and this is going to somewhat play off of that. We have begun a Bible study for college guys that go to Summit and we have named it Recovering Biblical Manhood. We are doing this study in hopes that we, boys, will grow closer to God and become the men and the leaders that he has made us to be, because let's face it, men today have been sitting around playing video games, watching ESPN, or just sleeping while the women are off doing what God has called. That's my little rant about that. Anyways, the heading on each one of our handouts, which has become our motto/theme, is :We don't just study how to be a man God uses just to say we're Godly men, rather we must apply it in our lives. Basically we are not just waking up at 7am on a Monday morning to boast to people and say hey look at me I'm being a godly man, rather we are making a sacrifice so that we can better understand what it means to be a godly man and be able to provide for our future wives! What this brings me to is the warning that I was given and in turn gave to the other guys that thought about coming: do not come if this is just going to be another thing on your 'checklist.' By this we simply mean don't bother showing up if you are just doing this to mark it off of your list of things to do because what this will lead to is a false understanding of salvation. If you are going to a Bible study, church service, BCM service, or what have you, just to 'mark it off your list' then you have the understanding that one these things are really not important to your life and that by doing all of these things you can mark them off your list and God will "love you more." Reality check: these things are provided so that you are able to grow together with a community that can hold you accountable, they are not present so that they can spoon feed you the Word and provide you with salvation. Salvation is from grace through faith and that alone! Therefore, do not let these other activities, that can be very beneficial, become just another thing to do. You must devote yourself to your own study of the Word and spend time with God so that you can gain an understanding of salvation and what living a Christ-like life truly means, and dedicate yourself to a community that can and will hold you accountable to those things and help you to grow even more! Could you imagine what would happen if we all did these things, especially on a college campus? One word: revival. If guys actually got some guts, confessed and repented of being a bunch of wimps and became the leaders of the church that we are supposed to be then our campus would be revolutionized! Imagine if we were actually training each other and building each other up in the word so that we could go out into our community (dorm, apartment, class, etc.) and gather those around us, being unashamed of the Gospel and actually living out the faith that we have. I am ready to see thousands of young people finally devote themselves to the God they say they believe in and get off their butts and make an impact for His kingdom! Are you ready? I dare you to move...

Confessions

2008-04-08T09:51:00.002-04:00

I have recently finished a couple of Mark Driscoll's books and the latest one that I read was Confessions of a Reformission Reverend. Throughout this book he goes through many of the mistakes that he and inevitably his church made during their first several years in Seattle. After reading through this book I began to think about my own journey to where I am in my life right now and realize that there have been many many huge mistakes that I have made over the past several years. Some of these mistakes have ruined friendships and relationships and others have been so bad that those effected have never spoken or listened to me since. After going through many of these events that have led to where I am in my life right now I can narrow down the major factor of most of these things as a problem with my source. By source, I simply mean where/what I rely on to provide my joy and to feed me spiritually. Over the years I have relied on my friendships and relationships to provide the joy, happiness, and fulfillment that only comes from Christ, and inevitably this has led to heartbreak, broken friendships, sadness, anger, bitterness, lust, etc. I relied so much on those other things, that I completely forgot about the joy and the fulfillment of my soul that only Christ provides. The problem with relying on these things is that they will let you down. No matter what promises are made, your friendships and relationships will always disappoint you, but you have to look beyond those and find the true source which is God. By completely devoting myself to my friendships and relationships I left God out of the picture and thought that other people would suffice for something that only God can fulfill, and these things became idols to me.

In terms of being fed spiritually I have realized that I relied on other people again to provide this for me. For instance, recently I have relied on the church and my discipleship to feed me. While these things are great and definitely help to provide for part of that, they cannot be the sole thing that is feeding you spiritually. If you are going into the church or into discipleship hoping that you are going to "get something out of it" then you are relying too much on those things to feed you. You must look beyond them and find the ultimate Source. You should be mature in your faith enough to be able to feed yourself. Stop looking to the church and to discipleship to spoon feed you spiritually! Grow up and realize that you are going to have to do some work on your own in order to grow closer to God. Nobody else can strengthen your relationship other than YOU! You are going to have to get your hands dirty, get on your knees and pray to God to provide for all of your needs and to instill in you a passion for His word and a desire to grow in Him so that others may also find Him, read the Bible so that you will be able to rely on His word in times of struggle, and simply spend time with Him.

The previous two things have been a couple of the biggest struggles of mine over the past couple years and even over the past months and weeks. My confessions are simple, I am a sinner, I have relied on other things/idols to provide for things that only God can provide and I have relied on other people to build up my spiritual life when in reality that has to begin with me. The words that I have written are written to myself, they are things that I have been convicted of. Hopefully others will be able to avoid the traps of Satan that I fell into and will be able to grow up take their lives (physically, spiritually, and eternally) and give it to God and rely on Him to be the one and only Source of all things. Do you need to confess?

Are you serious?

2008-03-27T17:28:00.002-04:00

Watch the video above and then continue to read what I have to say, the video is a commercial that I saw the other night.

After I saw that commercial the only response I had was “are you serious?” Don’t get me wrong I love pets, especially dogs as we have had one forever, but seriously do people need to donate their money to improve the health of a dog or cat? People in the United States have idolized pets and have held them higher than God in their lives. What about the kids in poor countries that die everyday because they don’t have enough food or clean water? That reason alone is why I cannot stand celebrities and other rich people. They always talk about donating money and try to guilt other people into giving, but what are they doing? They’re living in their several million dollar mansions, in which they have a couple of them, and they might give very little money to help other people. That is ridiculous!!! They would rather help an animal (which yes they are cute), but let’s face it when that animal dies, it dies; there is not eternal life with or without God. On the other hand, those children that are dying because they don’t have the basic necessities of life, will find their eternity in either heaven or hell and let’s hope that those of us who say we truly care, cared enough to share our resources and the Gospel with these people because the reality is, their death and their eternal life, that’s on us (‘Christians’). Here’s a heart check for you, do you care enough to sacrifice a night out in order to give somebody else a chance for life, and are you willing to let go of yourself and your pride and go tell these people that they don’t have to spend their eternity separated from God? I hope that you will truly consider the latter questions. I am not trying to guilt anybody into anything but I hope that God convicts you and burdens your heart for lost people around the world (and in your own backyard) so that you will go and show them the love that Christ provided all of us. Stop holding it in and being selfish. Get outside of your comfort, sacrifice what you have, Christ sacrificed his life for you!!!! Will you continue to sit there and be passive?

Argentina

2008-03-20T21:45:00.002-04:00

Well what can I honestly say about our trip to Argentina other than the fact that it was the greatest and most amazing trip I have ever been on!!! The main reason that this trip was so memorable is because I have never been on a trip where everything that was done was done with the intentions of showing and sharing the Gospel with every person that we came in contact with. All week we would start out by having breakfast and doing a morning devotion and prayer time and then we would go to the towns (either Clarinda, Laguna Blanca or Espinillo) and we did some door-to-door ministry. This experience was awesome because people are so receptive and inviting and most people would invite you into their homes or shops and sit down with you and listen to what you had to say and talk with you about it. It was great seeing God work through us and in the response of the everybody we talked to. The best thing about us sharing the Gospel with these people is that we started a relationship with them which was followed up that night with events for their kids and time for the parents to talk with us more and watch a film. Also, in doing this the local church got their names and contact info in order to keep up with and make visits with them in order to follow up on the seeds that were planted. After door-to-door we would have lunch and 'siesta,' which meant that the entire town went to sleep and was basically a ghost town! Then we would get ready to do some VBS and kids/sports ministry which was really fun! As most know, I love to work with kids and I love to play sports, and I love telling people about the love of Christ and being able to put all these things together was great. Towards the end of the week my Spanish was getting pretty good and I was able to talk with the locals and just share with them how Christ changed my life. This was seriously one of the greatest experiences of my life! I thank God for allowing me to go on this mission trip to Argentina/Paraguay, but it also taught me several things. I continue to learn how to become a follower and to remain humble, but the main thing that continued to burden my heart all week was the fact that we are so eager, willing, and quick to share Christ to those who don't speak our own language, but to those who speak our language and share our cultural experiences we are reluctant and afraid. Why is this? I am not sure, but in looking back to our week it all boils down to intentions. Everything we did was intentional and was done for the sole purpose of sharing and showing the love and saving name of Jesus. So in coming back to our comfortable culture and language I continue to ask myself in everything I have done, what are my intentions? It's great that we go to the nations to share Christ, but let us not forget about those who are around us crying out and who desperately need to hear the name of Christ! Going to class, riding the bus, buying food, whatever I do, I do with the intentions of showing the love of Christ so that others will be able to see Jesus through me! The main question that we have to continue to ask ourselves is: what are your intentions?

Like A Child

2008-03-18T16:13:00.003-04:00

The following was written on the plane ride from New York to Sao Paulo, Brazil:

I often think about my faith and how much I truly rely on and trust in it. Today I was sitting on a plane for what seemed like forever, but right beside of me was a mother with her two young sons on either side of her. Both boys were laid out and sleeping in the comfort of their mother's arms. So peacefully and securely they rest in knowing that they are in the arms of one who loves them and will do absolutely anything for them. I reminisce and think back to my childhood when I so often rested in the arms of my parents. The reality is that our heavenly Father calls us to His arms to find that same rest, comfort, and security. He has done everything already for us, including dying on a cross so that I don't have to experience the death and punishment I deserve, due to my sin. All we have to do is completely trust in the faith that we say we have in the saving name of Jesus! Do you have faith like a child?

In Argentina

2008-03-09T11:32:00.001-04:00

Since I am in Argentina for the next week, I will not be able to post everyday so check out the family blog.

Intentional

2008-03-07T08:17:00.003-05:00

This is something that I strive to be every day. In all that we do in the name of Christ, we are to do it in excellence and to the fullest. All of our actions should be intentional and for the sole purpose of bringing people the loving salvation of the one and only Savior! Be intent on one purpose (Philippians 2). Today I am leaving along with 11 other people to go to Argentina to bring the Gospel to people who have probably never heard it, or who have never heard the saving name of Jesus. I will try to keep writing here while I am away so that you can know how God is using us, but your prayers are important as well. God has laid a path and an opportunity in front of us and we are going intent of that one purpose. Are you being intentional?

Mistaken

2008-02-29T09:13:00.002-05:00

Throughout life the one thing we have to continually ask ourselves is, what is our purpose? Take a second to think about that question for yourself and truly think about what your purpose is for living your life. Through everything we have been through this year with all the drama, heartbreak, letdowns, etc., whatever has come about I hope that my life has echoed the attributes that Christ has exampled for me. While that is my hope for the past, that should be my will for the future. Every moment I should be striving to live out my faith by offering my life as a living sacrifice for Christ (Romans 12:1). As we, Christians, live our lives everyday people should be mistaking us for Christ. Because of the way we live, everybody that comes across us should feel as if they had just seen Jesus!!! The latter should be what we desire; we should want to be mistaken for somebody else, that being Christ Jesus our Lord! In everything we do and everybody that we come into contact with, we should be mistaken for Him because being crucified with Christ, it is no longer us who live, but Christ lives in us! Are you being mistaken?

What are you waiting for?

2008-02-22T22:27:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking lately about how so many people say that they want to make a difference and how they want to spread the name of Christ across our campus, town, state, nation, and the world. My one question is what are you waiting for?!?!? You want to make a difference and change the world for Christ? Well, why are we still sitting around doing nothing, secluding ourselves to each other, doing dinner and other random fun? We have experienced the grace of God and the salvation brought by faith in Christ, and we are keeping that to ourselves. If you want to change the world, then the only way to do that is to introduce others to Christ who washes away sin! So we say that we want to make a difference, well then I say get off your butt and go do it right now! Seriously, stop reading this, go outside and tell somebody about how Christ saved your life and how He can do the same for them! Honestly, if you didn't just do that then go and do it NOW! We say we want to make a difference and that we want to change the world and spread the name of Christ, but why are we not out in the world telling others about Christ and showing them how they can have their lives transformed by his loving salvation! So, if you really want to make a difference, if you really want to change lives, then go now and do it and stop sitting around and waiting. There are millions of people who have never heard the name of Christ and we need to bring it to them. What are you waiting for?

Would it be love?

2008-02-21T15:16:00.003-05:00

Simple question, if your friends were to describe you/your character would love be one of the words they use? Here's a good way to figure out whether or not love is something that can be used to describe you...take the following passage of scripture (which is usually misquoted) and replace the word love with your name. In doing so, you are applying the attributes and facets of love to you in hopes that you and love will be synonymous. This is something that can be used especially when teaching others how to find a Godly man/woman.

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
~1 Corinthians 13:4-8~

Would it be love?

Poem

2008-02-20T16:31:00.004-05:00

Every time I near the point of letting go
Your face reappears before my eyes,
Your song grows louder as your words echo
In my mind. No matter how hard my mind tries
My heart will never forget you.

Why you frontin'?

2008-02-19T14:14:00.002-05:00

Front v. - to serve as a cover or disguise. This is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately and it continues to show up everywhere I turn. Unfortunately, this seems to be the case within the body of Christ. People are covering up and disguising themselves and we have to wonder why? Why is it that we do not portray ourselves to be passionate followers of the one and only Son of God? To me the thing that's worse than a non-believer is a Christian that is fake! We have to stop wearing these masks and acting like everything is just dandy and deal with the issues that are at hand. We should be so passionately in love with Christ that our lives are screaming his name. If we are professing to be saved by grace, we are told to not hide it, don't disguise it, stop frontin'! Are you being real?

Here Am I...

2008-02-18T19:45:00.004-05:00

It has been a while, but a lot has been going on and I haven't had a chance to just sit and think in a while. I have gone through and revisited my previous blogs and the one thing I thought about was the title I gave the blog, Here Am I. What is the significance of that statement and where did it come from? As I was starting this blog I was listening to my itunes and MercyMe came on and it was the song "Here Am I." I began to think about how I continue to say that I am living my life for Christ and how I am dead to this world and that I want to proclaim the name of Jesus. This song became a reality because what a shame it is that people in this world will never hear the name of Jesus, and some of those around me have never heard it either! Who will tell them of this savior? Will it be me? Is my life and my heart screaming out "Here am I, send me!?" I am reminded of Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." I want to proclaim the name of Jesus, In all I say and do, UNASHAMED! That is the desire of my heart and I know that God can and will use us to proclaim his name throughout the nations. Everyday we are surrounded by people who have never heard the name of Jesus and have never believed in it and if we never tell them of His saving name then they may never hear it and that is on us! Here am I all of me, take my life it's all for Thee. Is this the prayer for your life? Here Am I...

Enough

2008-02-08T14:17:00.000-05:00

In the past week or so I have thought a lot about the word 'enough.' One of the questions that has been rolling through my head lately is that if somebody came up to me and asked me why I believe what I believe would I have an answer for them? After talking to a few people and praying a lot about it, it came down to the question is Jesus enough? Something to think about is that if all is stripped away, if all that makes you 'happy' is taken away, would Jesus honestly be enough? Clearly I would hope that that answer is a resounding yes, but it is something that is a continuous struggle. Everyday I have to remind myself that God loves me no matter what and that his love never changes. Because of this love, we are told in 1 Peter 3:15 to "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." I find my joy in the salvation of the name of Christ and He alone is the reason for the hope, for the life, and for the joy we experience. Will you always be prepared to give the answer? Is Jesus enough?

An opportunity

2008-02-02T15:13:00.001-05:00

So I was on the way home on Friday, to hang out with the fam and watch the Superbowl on my dad's new sweet tv! Anyways, I got about 50 miles away from Chapel Hill and my car decided to stop working. Definitely not how I thought my weekend would start. Anyways, I sat there for about 45 minutes and it was amazing! I definitely needed some time to just be secluded and just spend time with God. After this the tow truck finally got there and I got to ride with a guy named JC for about an hour, back to Chapel Hill. I had an hour to just hang out with this guy and just talk. He opened up to me and talked a lot about his family and some of the struggles they've been dealing with and I had the chance to talk about some mission trips and to just a share a little bit. This was an amazing opportunity that God laid right in my lap! It was great to be able to just talk and get to know a random person and show them the love of God and to just pray for them. I can only pray and hope that God will continue to show me and open my eyes to the opportunities he has provided. Are your eyes open?

Dedicated

2008-01-29T20:04:00.000-05:00

This word is something that I have been thinking about lately and what it means to be dedicated to something or somebody. All of my life I have been dedicated to doing something. For the most part this was always a sport, whether it was baseball or soccer or football, my time was always dedicated to a sport. Once my life became radically changed by Christ I found the more and more I grew and learned the more I wanted to dedicate my life to spreading the name of Christ. Everyday my life is dedicated for the glorification of His kingdom. The word dedicate is literally defined to devote wholly and earnestly. When somebody says that they accept Christ, their life is to be dedicated to being a servant. At many camps and such experiences many people will say that they are rededicating their lives. I honestly don't think that rededicating is something that should be encouraged. HEAR ME OUT... when I think about somebody rededicating I always wonder how dedicated they were before. You can't rededicate something that wasn't dedicated before! Once we make the decision to make Christ the center of our lives, we dedicate and turn over everything to him. Dedication can be a learning process but it is something that either happens or it doesn't. When we make the decision and say that Christ is our life, our life should reflect just that and we should be dedicated to Him. Either you are dedicated or you are not, again you cannot rededicate something that was not dedicated before. What are you dedicated to?

Song

2008-01-28T22:26:00.000-05:00

Some of us were hanging out the other day and we got to talking about a couple of movies and one in particular that I admit I think is awesome is Happy Feet. Say what you will but I think it is a great movie. Anyways, even though I think the movie is particularly about making baby penguins, one of my friends pointed out the fact that it's about the heart song of the penguins. This got me to thinking about my own song. Everybody, as seen in the movie, is singing for the same reason but we are all singing to a different tune. By this I mean that everybody has their own way of singing this song, which is to say that we all have been given different gifts but we are using them for the same purpose, for the glorification of God! My prayer is that my heart song is overflowing from me so that others can see Christ at the center and nothing else. As I continue to grow and learn in my faith, my song will become louder as the love of Christ will continually overflow from me. What song is your heart singing?

Man of your word

2008-01-26T14:30:00.001-05:00

I was thinking about trust and why I have such a hard time not only trusting others but trusting God. Since none of us are perfect we will at some point in our lives say we will do something and not do it, and this will unfortunately cause somebody to lose their trust in you. For me I cannot pinpoint a specific occasion that made me lose trust in others, but it has been a growing process to bring it back. Since we are humans and since this world is full of sin, something or somebody will always let us down. Thankfully there is a voice that is louder than mine and He will never let you down. In thinking about my trust issues, I found that I have a lot of faith in myself to do things, but God has continually been humbling me and showing me that I am fallible and that he is Truth! God has made us promises and he has and will continue to fulfill them and remain true. Now for us, that profess to be followers of Christ, we first need to practice what we preach. By this I mean that if we are going to be telling others to find/follow/trust/and believe in Christ then by all means we had better be doing the same! Telling and preaching is not enough, you must be living it! Since we are fallible men, we will always screw up, but God is there and always forgives us and sheds his grace upon us. In terms of keeping your word, first I find that I need to study The Word more in order to be able to remain true to my word. The more I study and read and become one with Christ, my word becomes His word and that will be kept. I hope to become the friend a friend would like to have, and the man of God I have been called to be. I have told many before that if they need me or anything at all, that I am here. I have remained true to these words and I will continue to remain true to them for anybody, because God has shown me that love and I must allow others to experience the same, even if it means going across the country just so you have somebody, I will be there, because God has always been there for me! Whenever or whatever, He is there and He always keeps his word. Are you a man of your word?

Heartbreak

2008-01-22T20:28:00.000-05:00

Too many times, I feel I've had my heartbroken. A heartbreak is something that if you're lucky you won't have to experience, but most of the people I know have been heartbroken at some point in their lives. To have my heartbroken was the worst time of my life and the only one I had to blame was myself. In these times when I needed somebody and God the most, I ran and hid away from the people and the God who loves me the most. The beauty of a broken heart is that God uses and mends the broken for his kingdom and glory! When I feel as if I've been let down or when I feel my heart break, it is for the better. In having my heartbroken, in retrospect, I now know that I invested too much of my life and my time and was not focused on what God had intended for my life. The Lord gives and takes away. When we are being selfish and are running from him he will take away the things we care about the most and this results in heartbreak. The most encouraging thing is that if my heart had not been broken I would not have been picked up and filled with the life of Christ. Has your heart been broken?

Frozen

2008-01-19T22:31:00.000-05:00

So today I had an amazing time going snowboarding finally for the first time this season! It was so much much and I can't until I go again! Anyways, it was probably about 30 or so degrees and it was snowing and everything was frozen. I was riding the ski lift to the top of the mountain and on the way up, underneath the lift was a stream with flowing water. Not only was this a beautiful site but it was mind boggling that everything was frozen except for this stream. This got me to thinking about several things. The stream to me symbolized the life of a follower and disciple of Christ. Here, you have somebody that, like this stream, is full of life. The life that they are full of is eternal life given only by Christ. The world around them is frozen and stuck in sin and a follower of Jesus has the stream of life flowing from the one and only Source. Not only can this be a person in the world, but it is also ourselves as a whole. By this I mean that our hearts are the stream and our bodies are frozen. For me my body/mind provide temptation and the overflow out of the stream of my heart is what provides life and the love of Christ through my body. My heart is the stream for my body, and Christ through me is the stream for this world around me. Are you still frozen?

Death

2008-01-13T19:10:00.001-05:00

So we went to see "The Bucket List" the other day and it was a good movie for the most part (if you really want to talk about the movie just get up with me some time). Anyways, this movie was about the one thing that almost every person refuses to think about: Death. Nobody, including myself, likes to dwell on death, I mean it's kind of a scary thing, right? Here's something to think about, death is something that everybody has witnessed and it is the one thing that people think will never happen to them. That's so true. Most of us have had to deal with the death of somebody we know, but we continue to go on with life as if we are invincible. I'm not saying that we should constantly dwell on dying, but I am saying that it is something that will come no matter what we do and since we never know when it will come, we are told to give our life for His Kingdom. Here's some encouraging words to think about, "To live is Christ, to die is gain." When I think about this and apply it to my life the first thing I come upon is "To live is Christ." The latter is a bold statement. What that means to me is that I am already dead, this is not my life, rather it is Christ. "To die is gain," simply means to gain the Kingdom of eternal life that God has promised to us once we have already lost our lives to Christ. So why is it that we must lose our life anyway? "The wages of sin is death." Since God is infinite we must repay our disobedience to him with an infinite/eternal penalty. This penalty is death and eternal separation from God (Hell). The beauty of the gospel is that once we lose our life to Christ, he has already paid our infinite debt to God by dying on the cross, and our sins are forgiven. Thank God for his grace, by which we receive salvation. Even still, death is never fun to think about, but it is something that is inevitable. Therefore, I encourage you to never waste an opportunity and go ahead and lose your life for Christ so that when death comes it is only gain. Have you sacrificed your life?

Abide

2008-01-13T14:23:00.000-05:00

After reading over some of the things that I have written, some could say that I was a bit redundant. The one thing I would I say that was repeated was the necessity of Christ. If anything is to be repeated as a sign of importance, I definitely believe it to be the dire need of Christ. Anyways, I was trying to think of something that would just sum it all up and then I went to church and JD preached on John 15:1-17 and the word he focused on was "abide." This one word encapsulates what I have been trying to get across in my last several posts. Here is how JD defined abide: 1. Where you draw acceptance (John 15:9), 2. Where you draw satisfaction (John 15:11), 3. Where you draw power (John 15:4). All in all Jesus states to abide in him in all things. To abide in him means to find your acceptance, satisfaction, and power and everything else in God's love, and grace. Abide, that word alone portrays the importance and the necessity of Christ. "These things I command you so that you will love one another" John 15:17. Once you abide, you will love. BUT, if you don't abide you will wither away. Are you abiding?

Knowledge

2008-01-11T17:59:00.000-05:00

Here's a question that after reading JD's blog came to my mind, why do we try to obtain knowledge and more specifically biblical knowledge? Hmmm.....let's think about this one. Why do I usually try to obtain knowledge? The answer that most people have is to further oneself in life and to prosper until success. Mainly when I think about obtaining knowledge I think about school. The reason that I attend school is so that I can get a good education, so that I can get a good job, so that I can make a good living, so that I can provide for a family. Catching on yet? The one thing that continues to come up in the previous statements is "I." The reason I try to obtain knowledge is for my own benefit. I do it for my own success and for the future success of my own family. The reason I'm going to school is because God has given me the gift of life and the opportunity to glorify his name by being a good student and studying so that I can further his name. I am studying so that I can do the job that he has prepared for me to do. Ok that's all good but what about biblical knowledge? So why is it that we read the Bible and study it? For the most part it is for our own selves, for our own benefit. Mainly we want biblical knowledge so that we can answer the questions that others will ask us. Here's what JD had to say about this, "Many don't seem to realize that the point of the Book is not the Book itself but the Author. What I am denying is not that that comes from too much emphasis on the Book; rather, it comes from the wrong type of emphasis on the Book. If you read the Bible as a source of doctrinal knowledge rather than as a manual for knowing and loving Jesus, you are reading it wrongly. Repent and read it again, this time with God as your goal and not the increase of your own, vain knowledge quotient as the goal." WOW!!! We desire and long to have biblical knowledge so that we can come to know God and that should be the sole purpose of our wanting to gain any type of knowledge. Knowledge is given to us from God for he is Truth and if we want anything other than to know him more then knowledge has become an idol. Why do you want knowledge?

Be a man

2008-01-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

As a male, you will hear this phrase quite often. Unfortunately, it is always used in the wrong way. Most of the time it is telling the guy to quit being such an emotional person or to suck it up and deal with the pain. I will use this term the way Pastor Tyler Jones of Vintage 21 used it. To be a man of faith. Jesus had 12 men that gave up everything, their entire lives just to follow him and to learn from him. They gave up EVERYTHING!!!! Where are men like this today? Why are we as men not imitating this behavior? We are called to give up everything, including our lives and trade it for a life of Christ. As Tyler Jones stated, most of the work done in the church is done by women (ladies, thank you so much for remaining faithful), but guys where are we? We should be men of faith. Men like Nehemiah, who stood strong in the Lord and was not intimidated, like Johnathan and Josiah. This is what being a man is all about. Being faithful and trusting in the Lord to provide all things. Again, Tyler Jones illustrated this in the feeding of the 5,000 men. The apostles were given food and they went to one group and emptied out all they had been given and then ran back to the source, JESUS, in order to be replenished so that they could once again go out to another group and pour out all they had. This is what a real man does. This is ministry! One must first be given to from the ultimate source of life, only to go out and pour it into the lives of others! Have you given up everything?

Gotta Keep Singin'

2008-01-07T21:03:00.000-05:00

Have you ever just had 'one of those days'? You know what I mean; one of those days where it just doesn't seem like it could get any worse. Sometimes these days seem to come too often and it just leaves you feeling alone. Alone, like nobody understands what you are going through and that nobody could help. Or maybe you haven't had one of those days in a while; rather you've had just the opposite. One of those days where it just doesn't seem like anything bad could ever happen. Like everything is just going your way. Everything is just how you had planned it to be. Let us not forget who provided us life. For either way, in the bad times and the good times you just gotta keep singin'. You have to continually sing praise to the Lord and seek His face always! It's so easy to be joyful when everything is good, but to whom are you giving the glory? Are you giving it to the One whom deserves it? Even in the bad times it is even easier to just question or most often to blame. Instead we are told to find our joy in the Lord and to praise Him. Persecutions and sufferings will come to those who live for Christ, but find joy in Him for He has overcome all things including death itself! When things are good, when things are bad you just gotta keep singin'. To whom are you singing?

Reminiscing/Friends

2008-01-05T12:21:00.000-05:00

The past week I was blessed with the opportunity to work at the Edge New Years conference at Caswell and then was able to hang out with some summer staffers for our reunion. It was an amazing time and I was really glad that I was able to catch up with some of the staffers and just hang out with some people that I didn't really hang out with over the summer. God also blessed us with some people that we had not seen in a while and it was just a blessing to come together as the body of Christ. Times like these are times that I cherish so much because not only do you get to hang out and catch up on people's lives but you have the opportunity to passionately worship Christ together! It's an experience that you just have to witness for yourself, but it is something that I have never found anywhere else. We just gather and sing praises to our Lord! Anyways, I got to thinking about the many blessings of friendships that God has given me over the years and God puts two different types of people/friends in your life: long term and short term. From both we learn great things that the Lord has prepared for us, but unfortunately some people in your life will be short term friends. They will not be somebody that becomes a lifelong friend, most of the time these short term friends are the ones that teach us the greatest things. Our long term friends are friends that will always be there for us, there to lift us up, listen to us, and hold us accountable for a long time. Let us not overlook either one, for God has provided us with both peoples in our life and we should cherish every moment we have together and always keep our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts open and ready to learn because you never know how long they will be in your life. People will come and go, but it is up to you how you will respond to what God has given you. Do you cherish and take advantage of what God has given you?

Wish

2007-12-29T17:34:00.001-05:00

Have you ever wished that you could just push the rewind button and go back? I've thought about this quite a bit and there are a few things that I continually wish for. The first, most selfish thing that I've wished for is to be with somebody, which is not uncommon for most people. Unfortunately, this longing and wishing hinders me from completely letting go and allowing and trusting God to do what he has promised. The other things that I have wished for is to just rewind life and go back, maybe do things different. Mainly take advantage and open my eyes to the opportunities that God has provided me. There are several things that I have missed out on because I was either too stubborn or too afraid, of what I don't know. The other thing I wish I could rewind to do is to go back to the days of Jesus and to walk with him and witness the miracles he performed. The one thing that I wish I could see the most is the passion that those who followed him had! I think it would cool to rewind and go side by side with some of the apostles like Paul, who was so passionate about Christ that he gave his life for him spreading his name! That would be awesome!! Or how about imagine walking with Jesus and learning from him in person? How amazing would that be?!?! Guess what...we can still walk with him today! The gift of the Holy Spirit has been given to us and Christ has taken my body and made it his own! There is nothing else that I could wish for than to have the Savior living instead of me. What have you wished for?

Life

2007-12-25T00:05:00.000-05:00

On this day we celebrate the birth and the life of our Savior, Jesus the Christ! This day is one of the most important days ever, because God fulfilled the covenant that he made and sent his one and only Son as THE Savior for all people! For this I am eternally grateful and have submitted my life for him and his kingdom. If only the latter was that simple! Unfortunately, temptations and just plain old selfishness hinder me from total submission. Life, it wasn't mine to begin with, so I offer it back to the one whom gave it as a living exclamation of the savior who's life began this day and was taken 33 years after, and was restored 3 days later!! Even when things seem to be going downhill, or not the way you would have thought they would, or when you are just being impatient or selfish remember the joy and the gift of life that was given to you from the Father who through his son we have eternal life. For those who believe and follow Jesus, life will never be easy, but rejoice in the sufferings and the persecutions for Christ endured all and overcame them! Rely on the savior that was given to us this day, for the taking of his life is what provided us with ours! Life, is it still yours?

That's a lot of rock

2007-12-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

I was riding in the car today on the way to Ohio and listening to Shane and Shane (amazing) and I was looking out the window and all I saw was mountains, which I have seen may times before. I know what you're thinking, big deal you saw some mountains out the window, very few haven't. Well I began to think about how in several songs we sing about how God can move the mountains. I never really thought about that until today when I was staring at mountains and thought to myself, "wow, that's a whole lot of rock!" Most of us struggle picking up a large stone (for me it's more like a boulder HAHA), but God can move mountains! How emphatically awesome is that! God is so powerful that he can do anything even move a massive rock fixture that we can merely gaze at in awe. God can do anything he wants, whether ordinary or extraordinary, he can do it no matter what. The latter is a statement that seems to come as simple basic knowledge, yea God can do anything, anywhere, anytime, but what gets me is how so often we try to limit or even dare to define God's power and other attributes. There are times when I think that I can do anything and that I don't need anybody, and then God steps in and reminds me that I am literally dirt and that he is the Almighty! There have even been times when I/we have tried to define how powerful God is by using our own human limitations. How absurd does that sound, honestly? Trying to put God in a box and say that he can or cannot do something. This can be applied to pretty much every attribute of God and so many times we try to limit him to our finite being. We can by no means define or limit any attribute of God, for through him we learn all things. He is in ultimate dominion, and gives us dominion through Christ to the ends of the earth. God is the Almighty One and nothing we can say or do will ever limit him in any way! That is something to take joy in and to rejoice in always! Are you trying to limit God's attributes?

Forgiven

2007-12-19T16:08:00.000-05:00

There's nothing you can do to make God love you any more or any less! This is something that our pastor J.D. Greear tells us and himself a lot. That statement is just very powerful when you think about it. I cannot do anything to earn God's love or make him love me any more than he already does. Even better than that, I cannot do anything to make him love me any less. No matter what happens God will love me the same. While he hates sin, he loves us, his creation! He has forgiven us of our sins when he sent his Son to be crucified as the ultimate sacrifice on the cross! All we have to do is confess our sins and die to ourselves so that we may gain Christ, which is eternal life! This is something that I have to remind myself of daily because my mind just cannot grasp it. I do not understand why God forgives me when I sin over and over again. I can't comprehend this because I am not God whom is Love, and whom sheds his grace over all of us. He will continue to forgive us of our sins, but it should pain us just as much as it pains Him! If we sin and it has no effect on us, per say guilt, or even a broken heart, then we are living in unrepentant sin. But, the best thing has happened, God has already forgiven us! We are forgiven, no matter what God will love you no more and no less! This example is how we are suppose to forgive others, we should forgive before they even do anything to harm us. Have you been forgiven?

Scars

2007-12-16T14:46:00.000-05:00

Scars, everybody has one, whether it be physical or psychological/emotional, you've got one. At church this morning and tonight Carl Cartee and his band were playing and one of his songs says something along the lines, "He[Jesus] bears eternal scars." This line got me thinking about the scars in my life. As many of my friends know, I have several physical scars that came from playing sports or having surgeries or just playing around. Those are the easy to deal with scars, as in yea I was doing something stupid, or this was from some cool accident/sport related thing. But, then I thought about the scars in my life that aren't so much fun to think about. Everybody has one of these scars in their life. It could have been a loss of somebody close/in your family, or maybe a divorce, or (one that seems to effect many) a broken heart. We've all had to come to terms with these scars and determine how they will effect our lives. For me, yea I've lost several people in my life and I've had my heart broken and I've watched my friends throw their lives away, but these scars are within me to make me stronger and to strengthen my trust and my faith in Christ. Several years ago I had the privilege to go to Mission Fuge at Charleston, SC. While we were there we cleaned up around an apartment complex and all throughout their woods and such and we got cut up by all the briers. I got to thinking about this and I have used this in some of the devotions I've led before, but if you take those cuts, scrapes, and bruises and put them all together, they don't come close to those that Jesus endured for our sin. To bring it all back together, Jesus the Christ endured all these beatings for our salvation, to forgive us of our sins and he now bears eternal scars as a reminder to what we as sinners deserve. So, my scars, compared to those of Christ, I count them but rubbish in knowing the surpassing value of His scars that once shed blood for my sins. What scars do you have?

Grace

2007-12-12T22:51:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought about salvation and how we receive it? I began thinking about salvation and how we are saved by grace alone. The latter sounds so simple, doesn't it? We always hear and usually preach that we are saved by grace and by grace alone. Unfortunately, many will miss this simplicity because while we might say that grace is sufficient, we make it so much more difficult. I am ever so guilty of making salvation about so much more than grace. We sing so many songs about how it's only grace, only love, only mercy and believe me it's enough. This is what we need to be preaching. We are supposed to be telling people that it is by grace alone that we have been saved and that it is God's grace that is sufficient for life! I hope that through my actions and through my words that others may witness God's grace in and through me. Personally experiencing grace is an inexplicable thing. I have been saved by grace through faith in the living Christ and the fact that God sent Him, His only SON to die and to be the ultimate sacrifice for my sins! God's grace has rained down upon us more than we can even imagine. By experiencing His grace we have been given the example and are able to and told to show grace to others. God's grace has already been given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ who was slain to forgive our sins. Therefore, we are called to exhibit grace upon others. How have you experienced grace?

Lost...

2007-12-09T22:55:00.000-05:00

I have listened to the following song over and over again for a time period I will not say because basically I had nothing to do besides listen. Anyways, I have been going through some things as you may have read in my other entries, but this song just encapsulates the entirety of my situation. The lyrics to this song have been my prayer as I cry out to the Lord for guidance. I have been so lost in life lately that I have had no clue what I was doing and I have been unfair to those around me. Even though I know that I have done the right thing, I feel like a jerk, like I have done something wrong, and it pains my heart. Therefore, I cry to the Lord, whom alone gives me peace and comfort. I cry aloud and He hears my voice. Lord take my hand and lead me on...What is love that it might show me grace?

"I don't have all the answers. I don't even have a clue. I am in the same predicament, the same as you. Caught in a landslide between self and selflessness. The sacrifice don't come easy, I must let go of me. What is love, that it might take my place? What is love, that it might show me grace? Show me some grace. I get lost in my thoughts, between right and wrong. My mind is always playing tricks on me, making it hard for me to believe. Which leads me to one conclusion, that I must let go of me. Lay myself on down, lay myself at His feet. What is love, that it might take my place? What is love, that it might show me some grace? Yes, what is love, that it might take my hand? Yes, what is love, that it might take my hand? Take my hand and lead me home. Take my hand and lead me on. Lead me on. Lead me on. Won't you lead me on? Won't you lead me on? Won't you lead me on? Won't you lead me on? Lead me on. Lead me on..."

~Shawn McDonald - Lead Me On~

Arms Opened Wide

2007-12-07T22:34:00.000-05:00

Lately I have felt this need to just be held in the arms of God and feel His loving comfort. For some reason, I just feel like breaking down and bursting out! I get tired of hearing people talk about be a man, men don't cry, we're men we don't need anybody else...Truth is, you aren't a man until you realize that you do need somebody, until you become broken and cry out for the Lord! I think about the times as a child when I was hurt or troubled, I would go and jump into my mother's or father's arms and they would hold me and tell me everything will be ok. The comfort, the soothing that was felt is truly like nothing else. It is something that I miss, I miss being able to just jump into their arms and just let it all out! Now, I jump into the arms of my heavenly Father and He holds me tight, telling me that He is in control, not to worry because Christ has overcome all! "Evening, morning, and at noon will I pray and CRY ALOUD: and he shall hear my voice" ~Psalm 55:17~. Through everything I have learned to seek the arms of not only my parents, but now in times away from them, the arms of my heavenly Father. He will hold on forever so long as you remain in Him! Don't be too stubborn or conceited to think that you don't need anybody or that you can't be broken! I don't have all the answers, I don't even have a clue, I am in the same predicament, the same as you, caught in a landslide between self and selflessness; the sacrifice doesn't come easy, I must let go of me; what is love that it might take my place, what is love that it might show me grace. Are you seeking His open arms?

Give Me Ears to Hear

2007-12-06T19:46:00.001-05:00

I was thinking earlier today about some things in my life and I realized that most of the time my ears are closed when others are trying to give me some advice or are just looking out for me. It's funny how I never realize that they were right or were looking out for me until it is too late. I was talking to one of my friends earlier and was asking for some advice when I realized that they had already given it to me weeks ago, but I just refused to listen and now I have to deal with the choices that I have made. I hate the fact that I can be so stubborn to think that I don't need anyone's help or advice especially when I get irritated when my friends don't listen to my advice! Talk about being a hypocrite! So often I pray to have ears to hear, but I always prayed for open ears for God's word. I guess I never thought that God's word could simply come from some friends looking out for me. I pray for others to have ears to hear the Word, but I now realize that it doesn't always have to come from my pastor, campus minister or straight from the bible, but that it can simply come from my friends trying to help out. Are your ears still closed?

Grudge

2007-11-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

I was reading 2 Timothy the other day and I am just in awe of how much Christ changed Paul's life! Something particular that Paul wrote stuck out and I have continually run it over in my mind. The verse is 2 Timothy4:16, "A my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them." This simple verse means so much. When Paul first began to preach the name of Jesus those closest to him deserted and left him. Here Paul is praying that this will not be counted against them. I wish I had the attitude and humility that Paul portrays here through Christ. Instead of holding a grudge against those who left him and possibly persecuted him, he prays for them and hopes that it will not be held against them in the end. There have been so many times in my life that somebody has wronged me or straight up deserted me and I have held that against them. With Christ dwelling within me, following His example through Paul, I let go of those grudges and pray that it will not be counted against them in the eyes of Christ. Those who have been forgiven much, love and forgive much! Since Christ died for me and became the ultimate sacrifice by which my sins are forgiven, I am called through Him to forgive others as they trespass against me. Have you forgiven?

Where I Was...

2007-11-25T20:08:00.001-05:00

After listening and reading several peoples' stories and things that they are thankful for, most of them have a common them/thing, which is a new life in Christ. This got me thinking about my life now that Christ lives compared to the life I was living on my own and where I was and where I would be today. Before I truly gave up my life to Christ, I was completely blinded and submerged and dead in sin. My life was going nowhere, and it was full of sin. The few months/years that stand out the most to me are my last two years of high school. During high school I professed to be a Christian, even though I had no idea what it meant to truly live a Christian life. Yes, I believed in Jesus and claimed Him as Savior, but no I did not devote my life to Him and surrender to His will. Anyways, the life I was living was shameful. The relationship I was in was not edifying, and turned into a relationship based off of and reliant on physicality and physical pleasures, which ultimately tore us apart. From there I found alcohol, which I had sworn I would never touch. For about a month or so alcohol was my safe haven. Anyways, if God would not have intervened and placed Caswell, my family and my Caswell family in my life then I would have continued to spiral downhill and I am afraid to think about where I would be today. Honestly, I would probably still be at Carolina, but I would be one of those college guys that is in school mainly for the drinking and the girls. Thankfully God is an awesome God and by His grace and by faith he saved my life and tore me apart so that Christ took over my life and has completely changed me. Yes, there are hardships and trials and temptations that I have to deal with daily, but I no longer have to worry or stress over them because it is not my life! How awesome is God that he takes a sinner like myself and turns me into a God fearing man that lives for Christ! I write these things to boast for Christ, not for myself and to just show that everyone has a story no matter where you are, believer or not, you have a story. Are you telling your story?

God Bless You

2007-11-25T19:47:00.000-05:00

Anybody ever think about why we say "God Bless You" after somebody sneezes? I don't know why, but for some reason I think about these things and am interested to know the reason behind it. So I looked up a few things on the internet to try to figure out why it is that it has become a common response to a sneeze. The most common answer for this is that during the bubonic plague, sneezing was thought to be the first sign of the plague. Therefore, when people would sneeze, others would ask God to bless them in order to halt the onset of the disease. So people would see/hear somebody sneeze and they would ask God to heal them, basically they were praying for their friends, family, and strangers! This old source of a quick prayer/blessing has become an English custom and has lost its value/true meaning. Do we really know that we are asking God to bless a person that sneezes? I didn't think about it that way, I just did it because I thought it was the polite thing to do. While nobody really knows how "God Bless You" became a common saying to a sneeze, it can be taken as a person asking God to bless and heal another brother or sister, which is awesome. Are you praying God's blessings upon others?

Some Simple Words

2007-11-23T17:48:00.001-05:00

We went shopping today, which is always an interesting experience being the day after Thanksgiving, and it was fun. I enjoyed the opportunity to just spend some time with my family even though I didn't buy a single thing HAHA! Anyways, as we were shopping, we were in this one store and I saw this piece of art, I guess it would be called art (this thing in a frame). There is a picture of it below, but it said something so simple yet so great! It said, "Having someone to love is family, Having somewhere to go is home, Having both...is a blessing." WOW! Thank you God for people to love who I can call my family, by blood and my friends and thank you for several places that I can call home especially my eternal home with you!

What are you thankful for?

Clarity

2007-11-23T16:45:00.001-05:00

Do you ever pray for clarity? I know I have and for some reason still do. I hate the feeling of confusion and just not knowing what is going to happen. Sometimes I wish that I could just look into the future and see what I was going to be, where I was going to live, who I was going to be with and so on. Fortunately, that is not a possibility. Rather I am here and am feeling this state of confusion about everything. There are so many different decisions to make about life that I have no idea what to do or what is going to happen. Thankfully, to Lord does know, and it is in Him that I find rest and comfort. I take joy and comfort in not knowing the future and in knowing that God does and that He is carrying me. So yes, I am confused about everything and it can be frustrating, but the Lord provides and in Him I find peace. I am not restless because the Lord is my shelter, my rock, my comfort!! Where do you find peace?

Drowning

2007-11-22T12:07:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought about what the Bible says about our life before Christ? It says that we are DEAD in our transgressions, not struggling, not floating, but fully submerged and dead! We have already drowned in our sin and Christ comes and breathes life back into us, which is so amazing. I was dead and Christ came and saved me which I am so thankful for. Even though we have been pulled up from the waters, we will continue to struggle, we will keep trying to jump back in and drown ourselves over and over. I don't understand why we do this, but the fact is that we do. This is one of the hardest parts of my life because I feel like I have failed, like I have let God down. I feel like there is no escape from this and that I will continue to struggle. Thankfully, I have been in the arms of grace and do not have to deal with it, rather I give it all to the Lord, EVERY single bit of me is His. In doing so, I yearn to know Him and the Word of God. Since I yearn to know God and his Word, I study it, I live in it and this is what guides my life and drives me. I thirst for the Lord and I hunger to know Him more and I am thankful that He has provided the opportunity for me to do this by reading the Bible and through prayer. My life would be nothing without Christ. The reason I live is because of Jesus, because He sacrificed His life for me, so that I may live abundantly. Yes, sometimes I fall, sometimes I am persecuted, but it is for Christ that I endure all things. I count all of my gain but rubbish for the sake of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord! I live for Him, rather He lives through me! I was already dead before Jesus rescued me, He breathed life back into me and it is now Christ who lives. Are you alive or are you still drowning?

Missions

2007-11-21T15:20:00.001-05:00

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't.” The latter is a quote from John Piper in discussing the purpose/goal of the church, which is in fact worship. God does not call us as a body to go out and do missions, rather he calls us to worship and exalt His name! This is something that we as the church have missed completely. Pastor J.D. Greer spoke on this last Sunday and he hit it head on. The great commandment according to Matthew 22:35-40 is to love the Lord with all that you have! The latter is what we term worship, which is unfortunately not happening around the world, but this is the ultimate goal of the church/the body of Christ! On the other hand, the great commission Matthew 28:18-20 is to make disciples to all ends of the earth. The Great Commandment is God centered and is completely focused on Him. However, the Great Commission is man centered and is as Piper terms it "a temporary necessity." Since we are not in complete worship with our God, we have been called by Christ to go and to spread His name and to TEACH others that the greatest commandment for them is to be whole-hearted worshipers!! This is what God has called each one of us to be and as we disciple others and are being discipled this is what we are working towards! We are not focusing solely on teaching others how to go out to different nations and preach, which is very important, but we are supposed to be teaching each other how to be in total worship with the Lord at all times in our life. Since worship, as Piper stated, does not exist, yes we are called to go and to teach and to make disciples so that they will become worshipers, not missionaries. If we are in active worship, then others will see Christ through us. Since worship around the world does not exist, God calls each one of us to go make disciples for Him so that they will come to know true worship. I am really excited about this because our BCM has the opportunity to go nationwide and across the world to spread the name of Christ so that others will become worshipers!! I am planning on going to Argentina with them and I cannot wait to see how God will reveal Himself to these people in order to show them that a life of worship is the only true life! Has God called you to go? Are you living a life of Worship?

Old Friends

2007-11-21T01:14:00.000-05:00

Since I am at home for the week for Thanksgiving I was able to catch up with some old friends, some from home and others from Caswell. What a blessing it has been to see these people and to just have some fun. This past weekend was Fall Fling at Caswell and it was great to see and hang out with some Caswell folks! We had some good times and got to watch wrestling pay-per-view at Yam's!!! It was so much fun that I cannot wait for Reunion. Oh and I got to go on stage with BDT for one of their dramas and it was awesome! God was moving in some amazing ways and I watched some of the high school guys from my small group make commitments to Christ which was awesome! Tonight I got to play ultimate frisbee with some friends and it was a whole lot of fun. God has blessed my life with some amazing people and I'm glad that I was able to hang out! Who has God blessed your life with?

Fall Retreat

2007-11-13T20:59:00.001-05:00

This past weekend was our fall retreat with the youth group at Summit. It was so flippin awesome and I cannot wait for our next trip! I absolutely love hanging out with those kids and sharing the love of Christ with them and watching them grow in their faith. Matt Orth was our speaker and he brought the Gospel to these kids and it was great! Matt Blair was our worship leader and I enjoyed getting to hang out with him and listen to his music and just have the opportunity to worship with him and our students. It was great getting to know the students better and have fun and be able to learn more about Christ. There's a few pictures below of some of the fun we had! Praise God for those students.

Guys vs. Girls football (guys had to be on their knees)

Crying Out

2007-10-29T22:13:00.000-04:00

Prayer is so amazing! I have struggled with prayer for the past few weeks now and desire to spend time with my Creator. I was reading a prayer journal that I found in our prayer room and I came across a prayer written February 5, 2002. I read this prayer and fell flat on my face because this anonymous person was crying out for God. There have not been many occasions where I have desperately cried out to God because I so desired Him and needed Him. Here is the prayer: "Father, I pray for guidance. I don't know what to do. I really messed up. I'm so lost. What am I suppose to say? What am I suppose to do? I can't deal with it on my own. I pray you take the burdens away because it hurts. I'm hurting and I don't know how to make it stop. Why? Why is there so much hate? Why no forgiveness? Why pain? Why pain? Why pain? How do I mend a broken heart? All the questions, Lord, that I don't know the answers to. I pray for peace and wisdom that I may understand the questions. Help me Father! In Love and Faith ~J." Are you crying out for the Lord?

Letting Go

2007-10-29T21:42:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of the summer for our first Koinonia, we focused on letting go. There is so much in my life that I have refused to let go and continue to hold on to. I said that I was going to let go of everything and give it all up to God, but as I continue to grow closer to him, I realize that I still am holding on tightly to several things. God calls me to give it all up to Him, but for some reason I'm just not trusting Him to provide what he has already promised. Why can I not trust Him? Because I have been holding on so dearly, I have continued to spiral down away from Christ because I feel like I can do things so much better on my own. My time in the Word has dwindled, my prayer life has become scarce, and it's all because I hide it all within and think I can handle it on my own. Prayer is the most powerful thing I've ever experienced, and it is through prayer that God desires to have a relationship with me. Back to letting go of things...I've been holding onto some feelings for so long because I knew it was what I desired, but I completely left God out of the picture. I have been holding onto these feelings hoping and wishing that something would come about and have focused on those feelings for so long that I refused to allow God to show me where I was supposed to be. I was listening to some music of Jeremy Camp and Shawn McDonald and they both have amazing songs entitled "Letting Go." God was telling me straight up to finally let go of what I've held onto so dear and to completely trust in Him to show me the way and to trust in the promises He has given, especially when it comes to relationships. The following lines are from Jeremy Camp's song, "I have been brought to a place Where I want to give up everything Where all I can do is seek your face The brokenness I will bring Letting Go Of the things I hold so dear Letting Go Of all my pain and all my fears Letting Go Of the Things I hold so dear Letting Go Of all my pain and all my fears holding onto the things I deem so strong Holding on even though I know I've held on too long." Oh man, talk about a slap in the face!! I know that I have to let go of these things, these feelings, and completely trust the Lord and know that he will provide and that He has promised so much and that He can and will forever and always redeem. I am letting go of the things I've held so dear. What are you still holding on to?

Desire

2007-10-21T19:32:00.000-04:00

Once you get into college, life suddenly changes. All of sudden you have about 4 years to figure out what you want to do for the rest of your life! No pressure! HAHA. We have desires to do a ton of thing so how do we figure out what God wants us to do. If we are walking with the Lord and spending time with Him then the desires that are in our heart are the desires that God has put there. The best part about this is that I have found my passions/desires, which are working with youth and I have decided to become a high school teacher. But, what I don't know is where I will end up/want to teach. All through college it has been hard to figure out what exactly I want to do for the rest of my life which has been great because God has been keeping me on my toes which has made me rely on Him so much! I know my gift is working with kids/youth and I know for a fact that these desires are derived from the Lord, which brings joy to my life. Don't stress out because you might not know exactly what you want to do, rather trust in the Lord and have faith that he will reveal Himself and will place desires in your life. What desires has God placed in you?

Why I love StudentLife

2007-10-18T14:45:00.001-04:00

So this video was done by one of our former students and now one of our middle school leaders, Blaine. He is flippin hilarious. This is what keeps us entertained at youth at Summit! People want to know why I love working with the youth so much, well that is why! HAHA! Laughter is so amazing, it definitely rejuvinates me. Great job with the video guys!

An Amazing Night

2007-10-16T14:03:00.001-04:00

Thursday night we went to the Dave Barnes and Matt Wertz concert which was just awesome! I had a great time with some great people listening to some of the best music ever!! The video above is just a little sample of what you missed out on and how I felt. WOW!!! The concert was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their music. Although I was with some wonderful people, I couldn't stop thinking about somebody. I couldn't get them off my mind. This person introduced me to the music of Matt Wertz, Dave Barnes and various other amazing artists that are simply awesome! I miss this person like crazy and every time I listen to most of those artists I can't help but to be reminded of her! Music has become a part of my life and I don't know what I would do without music! It is a way of expression and most importantly a way of worship. It reminds me of some amazing people who in turn point me straight to the cross. I love the fact that music is everywhere and is so amazing and reminds me of some of the most amazing people ever! If only music could bring those people here with me, but the memories and their beautiful faces will always be with me until God allows our paths to cross again. How does music influence your life?

Passion

2007-10-10T16:19:00.000-04:00

So, I have been thinking about this for a while now and just can't get it out of my head. To start, there is just no way to explain spending a summer at Caswell, or even spending a weekend with some amazing Caswell people. After being around Caswell and around the people that work at Caswell so much, I guess you could say that I've been spoiled. Being around those people has truly revolutionized my life and the way of worship. While at Caswell you can watch and experience some of the most passionate worship ever! It is truly an inexplicable thing. A couple examples of this was just listening to voices echoing in exaltation around the room, or in the streets on a rainy night with songs of praise echoing through the forts and the night. If that wasn't enough to show the passion of worship, imagine sitting around a room or a campfire and having random conversations and then all of a sudden breaking out into praise and worship songs glorifying our Lord. The latter in its entirety is true passionate out of the soul worship. I've thought about this lately because I long for everyone to experience that passionate worship, and it is difficult to find Christians that that are unashamed of their love for Christ to truly worship Him. Most of the time we are too caught up in what others think about us, or how we look to others that we don't truly worship our King. We are told in the Word to rejoice and take joy in the Lord, which if we did it would turn into amazing passionate worship. Are you taking joy in the Lord and passionately worshipping?

Loss

2007-09-13T23:55:00.001-04:00

So it has been a while since I've written and a lot has happened. First, today September 13, 2007 my great grandma passed away. Our family was really close to her and it was hard to deal with at first but I know that she is in the presence of our Lord and find joy in that. The prayers and love of my friends and family has been absolutely amazing and much appreciated. It is comforting to know that so many people care about you enough to pray for you. Thank you to all of you who have been unselfish in your prayers and in your love.

Since I've written last I have began my junior year at school and it is shaping up to be another great semester. Unfortunately, sometimes I tend to take on too much and just keep going and doing everything that I can. I have been reaching the burn out point and have realized that it is time to slow down, and take some time for myself. I have been trying to do everything that I can that I get so caught up in everything else that I forget about God's plans for me and I even forget about taking time to rest. Why is it that I keep taking on more things and at times I even find it hard to just say no. When I know that I don't have time or the ability to do something I don't say no, instead I just keep going. As I continue to think about this I am reminded of Psalm 46:10 which says, "Be still and know that I am God." WOW! Something that I have definitely not been doing lately. Just be still and know that God is and that God has his arms around me and is taking care of me. Are you still going?

Getting our attention

2007-08-07T07:33:00.000-04:00

So many times in my life I have been so caught up in myself and the things that I just think that I have to do I forget about God and His plans for me. Why is it that we so often get caught up in our lives and the plans we have that we forget about God? We get so distracted with our life that we don't see God and the things He tells us to do and the opportunities that He gives us. When we get distracted like this, He has to get our attention and get us focused on Him again. Sometimes this may mean a loss of somebody or a loss of some thing, but God has a meaning for all things. Monday 8/6 is a day that Caswell will remember for a long time. A church group was on the way down to Caswell and about 20 miles away from their church, they got into an accident and one of their leaders died. Also on that same day, two of my friends, one of which worked at Caswell full-time, were in an accident. Through all things God had a purpose. As Caswell was coming to an end, we were beginning to get into a routine and forget about why we had come together. These accidents brought our staff back together as the body of Christ and united us once again in prayer and song. As we sang and prayed around the house the group was to stay at, it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. There are times that we may be selfish and grow apart from our brothers and sisters but God brings us back together in order to praise and glorify His name. I am often reminded of the poem about the footprints and how there were two sets of footprints and during hard times there were only one because Jesus was carrying me. When I think about my life I think about when I wasn't a Christian how there were two sets of footprints away from each other, but then when I fully understood what it meant to follow Christ I only saw one set of footprints. Those were the footprints of Jesus the Christ because it is no longer I who live, but Christ; for I am dead to this world, it is Christ who lives through me. Are you too distracted with your life? Are there still two sets of separated footprints?

Accountability and Encouragement

2007-07-30T07:46:00.000-04:00

So we so often talk about how we should have accountability and encouragement in our lives and that we should hold each other accountable and always encourage/up lift each other. Well I've been thinking about this a lot this summer/year and realize that we have no idea what it means to encourage or keep each other accountable. Stuart Hall was the speaker this past week and he spoke on this one night. His words were profound and I knew that God was finally showing me what it meant to be encouraging and to keep somebody accountable. What Stuart said was that to encourage somebody does not mean to simply say, "Love ya" or "you can do it, keep going." But more than that; it means to lay your life down in front of that person. To keep somebody accountable we must lay our lives aside and stop at nothing to get that person on the right track or to help them stop doing what they're doing. That's what it means to be accountable. I can attest to that, and if there weren't people in my life that put themselves aside and continually were on my back about things, then I would not be where I am today. Accountability does not always have to be between two guys or two girls, while you can get more personal with those, it is also meant to be in a relationship. As I talked about in my last post, true Love has many facets and accountability and encouragement are some of them. This is because in order to Love somebody one must be willing to lay their life down for the better of that person. Another thing that comes along with this is that in order to truly be accountable you have to care more about that person than you do the relationship/friendship that you have with them. If you care more about the relationship/friendship that you have with them then you will never be able to keep that person accountable because you are more worried about the response of that person instead of what that person is doing. "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the Law of Christ" ~Galatians 6:2~ Are you bearing the burden's of those around you or are you more worried about losing your socially bound friendship?

True Love

2007-07-17T17:30:00.000-04:00

So what is Love? It's funny to think about how many things that we say we love. The English language has taken the word love and applied to many different things and unfortunately when it comes to the love between a man and a woman, it has lost its meaning. Love has so many meanings in today's society but what is true love between a man and a woman? In order to figure this out we must look to the Bible. In the Greek language there are several different words for our English word 'love.' The main three used to describe the love between a man and a woman are 'raya,' 'ahava,' and 'dod.' Raya literally translates as a friend or a companion, which is the basis of a love relationship. If there is no friendship and there is no companionship then there is no relationship. I have many rayas in my life but that is the only facet of love that we have. Ahava translates as love of the will. This means making a decision to join your life to the life of another. This is an emotion that leads to a commitment. In order to truly experience love we(men) are told to give up our lives for our wife as Christ did for the church (Ephesians 5:25-33); the wife gets to submit but the husband gets to die. Finally, there is dod. Dod means to carouse, rock, or to fondle. This is the physical, sexual element to a relationship that God designed for marriage. Without all three aspects listed above, it is hard to have true love in a marriage as God intended for us to have. One of the things that I have been taught to do, and it is amazing, is to turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and to replace the word 'love' with my name and see if I have the attributes listed. God has called us to have those things in order to love. Are you ready to love?

Empty Worship

2007-06-28T00:43:00.000-04:00

For one of our devotions we were huddled in the attic of one of the buildings in the dark in order to hide from the persecutors who were after us. During this time we began singing and we continued to sing louder and louder until we got to the last song and the doors below us began to slam and people were screaming and trying to find us. And then somebody busted through the attic door and said, "You Christians, why do you take your freedom to worship for granted?" Now of course this was all planned out and was a simulation of something that could actually happen, but it made me think about how we worship. I came to the conclusion that our worship has become empty. There are so many times that we will sing 'praise and worship' songs and not even know what we are saying, but are just singing because it is fun and we like the song. If we actually paid attention to the words that we were singing then we would realize how empty our worship is and how amazing God is. Don't get me wrong I love to sing and to have fun just as much as the next person, but in all things God has called us to worship Him, and to give Him glory and honor. Another thing that is prevalent in our lives is the fact that many of us can be fake or wear masks as others may say. So many of us do this and it is a shame that we do. God has not called us to be perfect people or to live perfect lives. Even Jesus said that we will face trials and tribulations and that we are all sinners saved by the Grace of God. God wants us to be real with Him and with those around us. He doesn't want us to hide what is going on in our lives. He has put other people in our lives in order to help us through our struggles. We have got to quit being fake and to tear off the masks and just be real with each other. Once we do that our worship will no longer be empty. Is your worship empty?

Interpretation?

2007-06-24T13:21:00.000-04:00

Again I was talking to some people the other day after our devotion. For part of our devotion we watched one of the Nooma videos by Rob Bell, entitled Dust. These videos are amazing and great and I have enjoyed being exposed to them. Anyways, during part of the discussion they were talking about how different people will 'interpret' the Bible according to their lives. Well I got to thinking about how much I dislike the word 'interpretation'. The reason I do not like to use the word 'interpretation' is because it makes it seem as if the Bible could have many many many different meanings where as it has one meaning and that is one total truth. As I was thinking I decided that the most appropriate word to use in these situations is 'application.' I chose 'application' because the Word of God is truth, but it is applied to peoples lives differently. Therefore, instead of saying that people have different interpretations of the Bible, I feel as if it is better or more appropriate to say that the Word of God is truth but different people have different applications of the Word in their lives. Are you interpreting the Gospel or are you seeking and applying it to your life?

Please bow your heads...

2007-06-24T13:12:00.000-04:00

I was talking with some people the other day after one of our devotions and I got to thinking about prayer. I was thinking about how awesome prayer is and that it is cool that God can hear our thoughts and our voices and desires to have conversation with us and wants us to cry out to him. When I got to thinking about it, I was thinking about how before people pray they usually ask others to bow their heads as they go to the Lord in prayer. Well I pondered on this for a while and was thinking why is it that we bow our heads and close our eyes? So many people say to do this because one can concentrate better/easier, but what is the real reason we bow our heads and close our eyes? In order to find this answer we have to go back and think about the days of Jesus and before. When people would praise or pray to Jesus/God they would fall to their knees and bow their heads to honor the Lord to show that they surrender and completely worship Him. This is evident in other religions such as Islam/Muslim. Have you ever thought about the fact that to fall on your knees and to bow in prayer is to show complete surrender and honor to our Lord? It is a shame that we have become so prideful and forgetful that we no longer fall to our knees and cry out to the Lord to show that we surrender to Him. I am just as guilty of this as the next person, but how amazing and uplifting would it be to show God that we surrender to His will and that we fall to our knees and bow our heads to show Him honor and to put ourselves aside so that all the glory and all the praise is His. Are you surrendering?

The summer begins...

2007-06-24T13:05:00.000-04:00

So we are about 4 weeks into the summer here at Caswell, and I have to say that it has been absolutely awesome! God has been doing great things, as always, in the lives of the campers and the staffers. There have already been hundreds of decisions made and a couple of those have been of the staff. That is one of the most encouraging things to see. The other night, it was the last night of camp for the campers, the youth were on fire for Christ and it was such an awesome thing to witness. They were so pumped up and were giving all the praise to God and to see such things was so encouraging and uplifting. I wish that everybody could come and see the things that God is doing here. He is continuing to work through and in us and I cannot wait to see what the rest of the summer is going to be like, but I know one thing for sure; God is awesome and the loving grace of Christ is the greatest thing I've ever experienced.

Intentions

2007-05-07T00:37:00.001-04:00

Tonight was yet another amazing night! I have the great opportunity to attend the Phil Wickham, Shane & Shane concert. (Shawn McDonald was supposed to be there but his wife had a baby and he couldn't attend.) Going into the weekend and the night of the concert, I was being selfish and was focused on myself more than thinking about worship. I continued to think about hanging out with my friends, catching up, and meeting others instead of purposely seeking the Gospel and actively being in worship and prayer. As the night continued we went to the concert and Phil and Shane & Shane straight up rocked our faces off! My favorite songs of the night were "Divine Romance" by Phil Wickham and "I Miss You" by Shane & Shane, which almost broke me down in tears so I definitely suggest you finding that song and listening to it!! More importantly God basically slapped me across the face. The whole concert was awesome and it was an amazing night of worship. The songs that we sang just made me think about my relationship with Christ and the things that He has done in my life and how He has blessed me so greatly. I realized how the whole night and for a while now that I've been being so foolish and have been rather selfish/self-minded lately and not being in continuous prayer and worship. Instead of seeking God and His worship and love, I had been more interested and focused on the people around me. My intentions were elsewhere and not focused where they should have been, and singing in worship with the hundreds of people at the concert and hearing the words being sung was an amazing experience and I thank God that He loved us so much that He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us!! God was definitely present tonight at that concert and it was a well needed wake-up call to stop being selfish and to be in continuous worship and prayer. What are your intentions?

National Day of Prayer

2007-05-02T22:11:00.001-04:00

Tonight was amazing! Instead of having our normal youth night, we had a night devoted to prayer. Thursday (tomorrow) is national prayer day therefore we devoted the entire night of youth to prayer. Let me just say, watching and listening the youth lead each other in prayer was simply amazing!! There were several of the adults that got up and spoke about the Summit Church's mission statement, "Love God, Love Each Other, Love the World" and then allowed the youth to respond by breaking into groups to pray. Witnessing these kids, mainly the younger middle school crowd, lead each other in a time of prayer and response to God was awesome! That was one of the most encouraging things I have ever seen. When you think about a night of prayer within youth, you tend to think about the adults leading the youth and not the youth leading each other. I have to say that the members of this youth group have encouraged me and are an amazing group of kids and it is evident that God is working in and through their lives and He will use them to do great things not only in Durham but throughout our state, country, and world. To witness them submitting themselves to God's will has been a blessing and they have impacted my life greatly. Have you submitted everything to God?

Spring Fling and Planning Weekend

2007-04-23T22:35:00.001-04:00

This past weekend was spring fling and planning weekend at Caswell. Unfortunately I was unable to participate in any of the spring fling stuff since I was pretty much in a meeting all weekend for summer staff planning. It was an amazing weekend and we got a whole lot of stuff done and planned out for the summer. It was fun because I was able to hang out with the other three members of the Key Leadership team and get a glimpse of what the summer is going to look like. I cannot wait for the summer to get here, but first I have to finish up the last bit of the semester and the five finals that stand in my way. One of the things that God continues to show me is that I shouldn't be so anxious and looking to the future so often, but rather focus on the here and now, for if I am focused on the summer I will miss the opportunities He has given me. I am often reminded of Matthew 6:34 ""So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Are you being too anxious and looking too much at the future?

Who ordered the snow?

2007-04-09T14:49:00.000-04:00

WOW what a crazy Easter weekend! As you read I spent Easter weekend in Ohio with my family. Well the weather was ridiculous in Ohio! We got about 3 feet of snow and it was pretty flippin amazing. Since we didn't get much snow for Christmas it was great to see all the snow for Easter! We got to go to Opening Day at Jacobs Field in Cleveland (for those who don't know that is the Indians baseball field). Anyways it snowed like crazy during the game and eventually because of all the white outs and delays they cancelled the game, one pitch/one strike away from a complete game! Even though they cancelled the game it was still a lot of fun especially since I got to go with my dad and brother. It has been a long time since we've gone to a ball game together so it was a great time. Now I am back in Chapel Hill with the warmer weather and the tons of school work! UGH! But in about a month I'll be about of school and at the beach with some of the greatest people at Caswell!!! I can't wait! Well through everything I think it is clear that God is amazing!

Catching up...

2007-04-05T19:55:00.000-04:00

Wow it has been way too long since I've written!! So a lot has occurred over the past two months so let me catch you up on the things God has been showing me...

The month of March was packed full of amazing things. To begin, the first weekend of March we had Metamorphosis with the Summit youth, which is basically just a D-Now. It was great; we had about 70 students attend and I got to hang out with 6th grade boys all weekend and just be crazy! We had a western dance thing that they actually hired some old guy to be the DJ/caller for about an hour and I have to say it was a whole lot of fun. Oh and did I mention that we all looked ridiculous in our "western/country gear." HAHA that's the first time that I've ever dressed up anything like western and I wasn't really all decked out, it was a cowboy hat, bandanna, and blue jeans (there's a picture on facebook). Anyways, it was just a whole lot of fun! Saturday night we had a guest speaker come in and several youth made decisions to follow Christ, which was AWESOME!! Also, there were about 6 or 7 youth, all middle schoolers, that have decided that they are being called into ministry. How amazing and encouraging is that! To hear these middle schoolers say that they want to devote their lives to Christ in every way is so awesome.

About a week later it was already spring break! For spring break I went with 23 others from our BSU to Gulfport, Mississippi. Words cannot explain what was seen and the people there. We worked on a house that had not been touched since the storm. Our job was to pretty much demolish the house so that another group could come in and rebuild. The house belonged to a guy named Jack. The house was his mothers, but she passed after some time and his house across the street was completely torn apart by the storm. Jack had told us that he had lost all hope and that when he saw us young people giving up our week to come help, it lifted his spirits and renewed his hope and faith. It was very encouraging and uplifting to hear Jack speak to us and I thank God that we had the opportunity to meet and talk to Jack. A couple of the things that we learned/took with us was that our job there was just like what God does in our lives, meaning that he has to break us down and tear us apart in order to rebuild us in Christ. Also, that when it seems like there is no hope and we have nothing left, God is there and He lifts us up and carries us through and shows us that in Him there is always hope. And finally, many of us had been bitten by a million bugs, cut by a board or by a nail, but all those cuts, bruises, and scrapes put together don't amount to those that provide us with salvation, those scars, cuts, punctures, and bruises that Jesus the Christ suffered for us are eternal and bring us salvation.

Moving along, the weekend after spring break I went to Charlotte to Idlewild Baptist Church to lead a D-Now. Yet another amazing weekend with youth, that God allowed me to be a part of. I got to hang out with some great guys and really got to see God at work in their lives. We had some great discussions and Saturday night I was the guest speaker. This was the first time that I have ever actually preached for a group before, and let me just say I loved it!! I was asked to speak about repentance and salvation, so I began by giving part of my testimony and then continued to preach. Once I finished speaking, an invitation was given and a couple of the youth decided to follow Christ, and others made rededications. Again another powerful thing that God allowed me to be a part of.

Now here we are, one week later and school has been ridiculous and I've been running around being busy all day every day. Besides all that I am now in Ohio and the weather is CRAZY! It was about 84 in NC when I left and here it is about 25 and it is a freaking blizzard! Anyways, we came for Easter, and to see my family. More importantly we came to see my great grandmother who is in an intensive car unit. She is about 95 years old and knows that God is calling her home soon. We are really close with her and even though it is hard to let her go she has been so encouraging in keeping her faith and praying in times of pain. It will be sad and hard to see her go but I know that she will be going to a better place and will be with God. She too knows this and is ready to be with our Savior. All she has asked for is prayer and I know that Christ is with her.

So now you are caught up with everything that has gone on in the past two months and I will try to keep updating regularly, mainly so that Shannon can have something to read! God is awesome and when you least expect it He will find you! Stay encouraged and actively seek the Gospel in your life! Are you allowing God to work in and through you?

Being a light

2007-02-01T23:41:00.000-05:00

Again, it has been forever since I've been able to sit and write or even think. Life has been busy but I do it all for the glory of God. So I am playing basketball (don't worry I don't do much because of my ankle) for IM with our BSU and it is in the intermediate league which is really hard. Even though it is a little difficult, we are there to portray Christ and to show His love to others. The first night we played, one of the refs was talking to another ref before the game and said "There's something different about that team, I don't know what but there is." A couple minutes later he saw us praying before the game and he then knew what was different about us. All throughout the game, he was obviously watching us, but at the end we prayed with the other team and we were given the amazing opportunity to share Christ with several people including this ref who has been struggling with his faith for a while. He said that he was so happy to finally meet some people who are showing the love of Christ around this campus. Each week we continue to get dominated on the basketball court, but we do for the sake of Christ, in order to spread His name and His love. It is an amazing experience to be able to share the love of Christ with others and to spread the Gospel. God has given us so much and He doesn't ask much in return. "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ" ~Philippians 3:4~ I sacrifice it all for the gain of Christ, so that I may be a light unto this dark world. Are you being a light to those around you?

Fear

2007-01-17T22:20:00.000-05:00

So I have been thinking a lot about life and a lot of other things lately and I thought about why I do or don't do things. I put more thought into the latter, being about why I don't do things. I thought a whole lot about it and the one reason I came up with why I don't do certain things is because of fear. Simply and only because of fear. There are points in my life where I will not approach somebody because of fear, fear of what, I have no idea. Sometimes I will not talk to somebody about my faith because I fear their judgment or what they may say to me. Why on earth would or should I be afraid of doing such a thing?!? I know that God is with me every step of the way so then what is there to be afraid of? As it is written, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?" ~Psalm 27:1~ Therefore, there is nothing in this world that I should be afraid of doing because I know my God is with me. One more thing that I find myself being fearful of doing is discussing or telling somebody how I truly feel about them. This is something that is the hardest for me mainly because I fear being rejected. I have held in so many feelings (particularly over the summer and last semester) solely because of that fact, because I don't want to experience another heart break. What am I to fear when I know that God has accepted me and will never stop loving me and that He will always be here with His arms opened wide. No longer will I fear doing anything because I know God is with me. I will not let fear of anything hold me back from talking to, approaching, or letting somebody know how I feel. I will put up with whatever cost I have to put up with, because the cost of doing nothing is even greater. Are you doing nothing?

Giving it all away

2007-01-15T22:09:00.000-05:00

At church yesterday our pastor's message was all about giving, and not only monetary giving, giving 100% of all you have to God. On top of that, the Sunday school class that I taught for the 6th grade boys was the parable of Jesus and the rich man, where Jesus tells him in order to follow him he must give up everything he owns. Between Sunday school and church and during the sermon, I thought long and hard about how much of myself/my life I've given to God. He wants everything from us including the burdens. He has already given us so much and He asks just a little bit in return. I thought about the areas of my life that I was selfishly withholding from God and not allowing Him to take control. I've realized that what I have wouldn't be possible if it were not for God's love, mercy, and grace. Who am I to try to withhold anything from the one who has provided it for me. It is through Him that all things are possible.

The other night we went bowling and it was the cosmic bowling thing which is really fun and you all should go and do it! Anyways at one point in the night I decided to just take a step back and just watch and see how my friends interacted with each other. I began to think about how others view me and the things that I do and how I interact with others. One of the points of our preacher's sermon yesterday was about Christians' actual beliefs. He used an equation that fits perfectly, actions + stated beliefs = actual beliefs. It is not enough to only state that I am a Christian and that I believe in Jesus Christ, but I have to put that into action and others should be able to observe me and know that by the way I act that there is something different about me and that that is the fact that I am a Christian. Therefore, it is by my actions that most people will be able to know that I am a Christian because there are so many more people that watch/see you and the things you do than you will be able to speak to. Just something to think about. Are you withholding anything from God? How do others see you?

Reason

2007-01-12T00:02:00.000-05:00

So it has definitely been a good while since I've been able to sit down and write. In the past few weeks a lot has happened in my life. First, let me say that Christmas break is just way too short and I didn't get to see as many people as I had hoped. On the other hand Caswell Summer Staff was simply amazing, but again I missed not getting to see a few people, especially one that I hung out with all summer long (Shannon)!! Anyways besides the fact that I miss them, this has been a couple of interesting weeks.

That being said, my reasoning for writing these blogs is to first and foremost bring praise and glory to God, but I write to record my thoughts and experiences of my life that I am going through or those that I see others going through around me. These blogs are for me so that I can look back on them and see how God is working in my life and how He is using me. The questions or statements that I write are again directed towards myself so that I can see where I was and the troubles I was facing in my life at that time. The experiences that I recount are true and are not meant to be disrespectful or hurtful to anybody, they are merely there to help and to show that other people are going through similar things that you may experience. If some will perceive me to be a hypocrite then so be it, but keep in mind that nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes and screw up. It is by God's grace that I am able to be who I am today and have the people I do in my life. I thank Him for that and appreciate everyone who is around me. It is my hope that I am being an example of Christ and I would hope that the things I type will also help others and if anybody would like to talk to me about anything I write or do I would be more than happy to speak with you especially if it is something you disagree with me on, I would rather you speak with me than post an anonymous negative comment. May God continue to bless every one of you and I pray that He continues to use me for the betterment of His Kingdom.

Surgery

2006-12-22T14:52:00.000-05:00

Well it's been a few days since I've been able to sit down and think and type. So I had surgery on my foot again and that went really well and I am recovering now with almost no pain, which is amazing!! I would like to say thank you to everyone who prayed for me during the week I really appreciate it. It is amazing what can happen when people care enough to say a simple prayer for you. Prayer is so powerful and something that the Bible says is definitely necessary. Prayer is our way to communicate with God, not soley to ask for things, but it is a way to converse with Him. We usually spend too much time talking, whining, and asking for selfish things instead of sitting with Him and just listening or reading His Word. So again I would like to thank all of you who spent the time in prayer for me and would encourage you to continue doing so, because God can do so many things if we give Him the time, glory, and praise. Are you wasting your time?

Life goes on...

2006-12-13T16:53:00.000-05:00

This semester is coming to a close and we are finally in the last couple of days of exams! But with that, everybody including myself is extremely stressed out and is freaking out about these stupid exams. I really don't think we should have to take finals, but that's just my opinion. One thing I have noticed is that people change during exam week. Some people become hermit crabs and you never see them, others become really mean and unpleasant to be around. I realize that finals are a good chunk of your grade, but it isn't a matter of life or death. Some people become so caught up in these tests that they think if they do bad (and for most of them that means get a C!!) their college career is over. Au contraire my friends, no matter how you do on these tests I've come to find out that life does go on. It isn't the end of the world if I get a C in a class, shoot for most of my classes a C is GREAT!!! So be encouraged, and know that these tests are a small portion of our lives that will not hinder God's will for you! Know that God has your back and that He has a plan for you. That doesn't mean don't study, you still have to study and at least pass your class, but if you are meant to go to ____(insert Grad school of your choice) then God will see to it that it happens, so long as you remain faithful to Him. Study and try to do well but do not let it take over your life and stress you out! God is waiting for you with outstretched arms. Life will go on...

Santa Claus

2006-12-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

Being Christmas time, some of the most often seen symbols are Santa Claus and the Cross. We all know the symbolism of the Cross and the true meaning of Christmas (being the birth of Christ). But, have you ever wondered where the idea of Santa Claus came from? Well the other at the BSU party our intern read us the history of Santa Claus or more precisely named, Saint Nicholas. So Saint Nicholas was a very religious, God fearing man that decided to give gifts to the underprivileged around this time of year to celebrate the birth of Christ, as we do every year. Over the years Saint Nicholas's legacy has continued, but has now become skewed. We have turned one man's sacrificial obedience into a materialistic mythical character. Now Santa Claus is the face of Christmas and we focus more upon Santa and the gifts than we do the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior. How do you think Saint Nicholas would feel if he knew that his obedience to God has turned into this which has shadowed the celebration of Christ our King? I'm not saying that people who do Santa gifts are wrong but I believe there comes a time in a child's life when they are mature/old enough to understand the true story of Saint Nicholas and the meaning of Christmas.

Anyways that was my blurb about Christmas...so I was rummaging through some of my papers and pictures from this summer and really miss the summer and everybody from Caswell. I love every single person from this summer and miss everybody so much and I really can't wait for reunion now! I thank God that He has put everyone in my path and has allowed me to be a part of their lives also. I came across this promise that we wrote to God and it was somewhat of a wake up call, in that I questioned whether I was living out what I had written. I decided to put it up somewhere that I will be able to read it everyday to just be a constant reminder of how I should be living. Here is what it said...
"Lord, I submit myself to You and am committing myself to You and being faithful to You God. I will not let my relationships, school, work or anything in my life hinder me from having faith in You Lord. Lord Jesus take it all from me, I lift these burdens to You take them and do with me whatever You will. I will be faithful to You and I surrender to Your Will."

Are you surrendering and being faithful?
(Just as a side note: I hope nobody feels as if I am being judgmental towards anybody; I am simply accounting my life and writing things that will be reminders and encouragement for me as I hope they will be the same for you).

Longing...

2006-12-09T00:10:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking lately about how we long for things so often, and most of the time we fail to see what is right in front of our faces. There's been multiple occasions where I've longed to be somewhere or with somebody or to have something, when God has provided so much for me already. I have this longing to have love and a relationship only those who've experienced it can explain. But what I've realized is that God has that same longing except it is a relationship and love with us. Unfortunately, at times I myself am too busy worrying about me and what I want to see that God is right here with His arms opened wide. I've never known a love so true, and yet I still don't give God what is His. Instead of spending time with Him I am spending time longing for what I cannot provide. God has provided, but it is I who have to choose to open my eyes and stop longing for something else. "I won't be lonely tonight, because my maker is holding me." "Lord I want to yearn for you, I want to burn with passion." Are you still longing?

Trying to stay positive

2006-12-04T23:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I found out today that I am going to have to have surgery on my ankle again. I had surgery on the same ankle about 2 years ago and I have re-injured it and am going to have surgery on December 19, the day before I leave for Ohio for Christmas. While this isn't the end of the world, I know, it is something that continually brings me down. The reason this is is because sports have always been a big part of life and I love to just go out and play around, but with these ankle injuries I have not been capable of going out and playing as much as I want to. For me it is hard for me to see the bright side of this recurring injury, but since I have been through it multiple times now, it is simply a humbling experience. Since I could not play sports I would go and support them and be their "coach" and just provide a good attitude for everyone out there and would conduct the prayers before and after the games. So, while this seems like a downing experience, I am trying to let God use me in new and different ways that don't include me being involved with sports. Since there is nothing I can do about this, I place it in God's hands and allow Him to continue to use me. How are you being used?

Poetry

2006-12-01T00:45:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I am taking this class entitled Intro to Poetry. I know what you're thinking, poetry, how easy. This class is definitely not that simple, but today we had an opportunity to read our favorite poems or lyrics. The poem I chose was written by William Byrd and is entitled "Death is Nothing but a Moment's Rest," and it is a great Christian poem that has described how I've felt along the way of my Christian walk. While others were reading their poems and some performing, it just felt like God was speaking and basically laying it out there for those who don't know him. Not only through the poem I chose but from other poems that didn't have to do with God or Christianity at all. One of the girls in the class performed the song "Cathedrals," and there is a couple lines that read as follows, "In the cathedrals of New York and Rome There is a feeling that you should just go home And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is." I continued to think about this and thought about where is home. Home...is it where I was born (Ohio), is it where I've been raised (Southport), or is it where I will spend eternity? So just where is home, it is all three for all three are what make me whole. There was another poem that just caught my attention, I do not remember who wrote it or the title, but these following lines were stuck in my head and I thought about it all day. "It is better to be a part of beauty for one instant and then cease to exist than to exist forever and never be a part of beauty." WOW!! That is all I could say after thinking about those lines. For me I took beauty to be the love of Christ and for me to be a part of the love of Christ and His sacrifice for us for one instant and then cease to exist is better than to exist forever and never experience His love, grace, and mercy. Therefore, since I know how it feels to be a part of the love of Christ it has been laid upon me to share this love so that other will not have to go their whole lives without experiencing the love of Christ. Where is your home? Are you being a part or are you just existing?

Being Broken

2006-11-27T23:54:00.000-05:00

So I was reminiscing about this summer and I was thinking about some of the conversations that I was privileged to have. One of those conversations was with one of my good friends who was talking to me about truly experiencing God and being able to show love to everyone. One thing that we discussed is similar to the Shawn McDonald song "Simply Nothing," in that the words of the song are "What are you man, if you do not learn love?" Basically, we were discussing how one cannot exhibit God's love until one has learned and experienced that same love. We got to talking and one thing he said is that we can never truly experience God's love until we ourselves are made humble, which is absolutely true. The one thing that would make us humble is being completely broken and brought to nothing making us rely soley on God. The latter is so true because in my life I thought I had everything lined up, and I had everything perfect, but while that seemed to be enough for me, God took them away and humbled me to the point where I had to rely and put my faith back into God and not in myself. Therefore God broke me and as He will give, He will also take away if we are not giving Him the praise.

The other thing that came to my mind while I was thinking about this was how much we actually take everything for granted. Do we truly live our lives as if today would be the last? Do we enjoy every second in the name of God? I know that I have taken many things for granted and not only life in general but I feel one of the things that we take for granted the most is definitely our friends and family. Without them you wouldn't know what to do. You wouldn't be who you are today if it wasn't for them, I know I wouldn't. How often do we take the time to truly tell our friends that we appreciate them and that God has placed them into our lives for a reason? It should be all the time. More specifically, I've come to realize how much I personally take my parents for granted. Where would I be today if I didn't have two amazing parents? I definitely wouldn't be in college right now, nor would I be who I am today. It is by God's grace that we are able to have such friends and family members that love us so much that they would do anything for us. Therefore, we should be showing them the same love that God shows us, just by allowing them to be a part of our lives. Have you ever thought about how much it means to your parents to just hug them around the neck and tell them you love them? I've thought about it a lot lately, and for all they do for me, it is the very least I can do to just show them that I appreciate them and truly love them and thank God for allowing me to have them. How are you showing God's love?